Rainy Day Friends
by sfchemist
Summary: Ensemble piece set mid S3. After a late night encounter with Hoynes, Donna begins to realise how much she means to the West Wing staff. Revised final chapter up. Please review.
1. Monday

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing you see here. While Congressman Lewis is a figment of my imagination, the other characters are a figment of Aaron Sorkin's. Which must make this some kind of mass hallucination.**  
**

Chapter 1 – Monday

_Operations Bullpen_

_2.06 pm_

"How'd it go?" Donna asked as Josh entered the bullpen.

"Fine," he replied as he took the offered message slips from his assistant. Donna followed as Josh walked into his office to put down his backpack.

"Is Hoynes on board?"

"Umm...yeah. Kinda" Josh answered, distracted by the message slips in his hand.

"Is this about the SLP?"

"Yeah," Josh threw the messages onto his desk and took his coat off, "Sorry, what did you say?" He seemed to realise suddenly he'd been partaking in a conversation.

Donna sighed, "I asked if this was about the SLP."

"Yes, it is. Is this mine?" He gestured to the container from the mess that was on his desk.

"Yeah. Josh, what's the SLP?"

"It's the Scientific Literacy Program." He pulled up his chair and opened the container. "Are you sure this is mine?"

Donna reached across the desk and plucked the box out of Josh's hands, "No, this is mine. I got you a chicken salad sandwich. Hang on."

Josh stole some chips while he watched her retrieved an identical container from her desk. As she handed it to him, he indicated to the chair opposite. Donna sat and moved her lunch out of Josh's reach.

"I know what it stands for, Josh. I've been fielding calls about it for days. I want to know what it is."

"It's a pilot program we initiated two years ago. We want to expand it to seventeen other states and we need $80M to do so." Josh explained around a mouthful of sandwich.

"Yeah, but what does the program actually do?" Donna had been arranging meetings and listening to Josh expound his theories on the politics of the issue for the last few weeks but this was the first chance she'd had to find out what the SLP was about.

"It's designed to improve the level of scientific literacy in mid-ability high school kids. It's part of our plan to..." He stopped as he realised he was about to go into his re-election based spiel. "Anyway, the idea is that kids are put off science by the perception it's too hard..."

"It _is_ hard, Josh." Donna broke in. "I took biology at college, Josh, it is hard."

"Yeah, but a lot of kids don't try to understand it because it's perceived as a hard subject and they don't think they're clever enough. Also kids don't see how it's relevant to their lives. The SLP is basically a new way to teach science aimed at those kids."

"At the mid-ability kids?" Donna asked sceptically.

"Yeah,"

"So, we're just going to teach the mid-ability kids? What about the bright kids? The ones who already like science?"

"The ones that like science don't need to be encouraged to study it." Josh replied.

"Okay, then what about the kids that struggle? They surely need the most help, don't they? What are we doing to help them?"

"We'll get to them..." Josh paused contemplating the enormity of the task ahead, "but until then, this is a relatively cheap way to help a lot of kids. Plus it'll play well in the State of the Union. If we ever get the money!"

"I thought you said Hoynes was on board?" Donna watched as Josh picked the lettuce out of the second half of his sandwich.

"He is. Kind of, anyway." He sighed in frustration. Donna paused in her eating and raised an eyebrow at her boss. "He agreed, in principle at least. He wants to see details and evidence that the program works before he goes to Cryer. He said he'd judge it on the merits of the program." He sighed again.

"Isn't it kind of admirable, that he doesn't want to fund a program unless it works?"

"Yeah, it is but I don't have time to pull all the...." A light appeared in Josh's eyes that some would describe as an evil gleam. He stood and located a bound report several inches thick. He dropped the file in front of Donna before retrieving two folders from his bookshelf and handing them to her.

"You want to know more about the SLP?" He asked, "Well, here's the report and some supplementary information. Knock yourself out! Oh and while you're at it the Vice-President needs a summary of this by 10 o'clock tonight. No more than twenty pages please."

Donna stared at him, not believing the amount of work that had just been offloaded onto her shoulders. The smirk Josh was sporting would have been grounds for divorce if they were married. As it was she reckoned she could probably make a good case for beating him to a pulp. She put her empty lunch container in the trash and gathered up the reading material.

"You know, it's days like this I begin to reconsider my position on the second amendment."

Josh grinned.

"If you need any other information, just ask!" He called helpfully as she was leaving, prompting her to stop in the doorway.

If she had been able, she would have thrown a hand gesture in his direction, however with her hands full she had to settle for a verbal retort, "And I'm joining West Virginia White Pride!"

Josh's chuckle followed her to her desk.

***

_Andrews Airforce Base_

_4 pm_

The plane sat on the tarmac, the lights of the motorcade piecing through the November gloom. The President walked down the stairs, accompanied by Leo and followed by CJ chatting happily with Abbey.

"Did you see the way the Chancellor looked at me when I asked for coffee?" Sam grumbled at the rear of the group.

"I did," Charlie replied humouring the speech writer.

"You would have thought that I'd just insulted the Queen,"

"It amounts to the pretty much the same thing..." Abbey called over her shoulder causing CJ and Charlie to chuckle, "Doesn't it, Jed?" the President and Leo ignored her, too engrossed in their conversation. Abbey looked pointedly in their direction then rolled her eyes at CJ, eliciting another giggle before they parted ways for their separate cars.

***

_Chief of Staff's Office_

_7 pm_

"Good evening," Leo greeted as he entered the room.

"Hey! Welcome back, Leo." Josh replied with an over enthusiastic grin as he turned to face his boss.

"Hey! What about me?" CJ asked, indignant at being ignored.

"Did you go somewhere?" Josh's cheeky grin earned him a glare and a slap on the arm from CJ.

"I'd like to say 'I missed you', but..." Leo said with a vague hand gesture to the pair of them as Josh rubbed his arm in mock pain.

"How did it go?" Toby asked, eager to get to the point.

"Fine, mostly. We're still allies at least," Leo took his seat behind his desk and lent forward, resting his chin in his hands.

"We heard about the joke." Josh's grin returned full force as he bounced on the balls of his feet.

"Yeah, once again we find his sense of humour doesn't travel well..." Leo sighed, "They want us to re-examine our extradition treaty and look at removing the _prima facie_ requirement. The President agrees so, Josh, I want you to start sounding out senators."

"Sure, boss."

"What about China and G8?" Toby fidgeted, unnerved by the energy radiating off Josh.

"We're still discussing that...What's been happening here?" Leo glanced from Toby to Josh and back again.

"Toby's been working with Joey Lucas and Bruno on some new polling data," Josh responded.

"How's it look?"

Toby replied to Leo's question with a look in his direction and an eloquent silence.

"That good, huh?" Leo asked, "Have you got any good news?"

"The VP's agreed to look over the SLP package before he leaves for Vancouver," Josh had calmed slightly, realising his 'good news' barely constituted news but not wanting to disappoint Leo.

"Why's he going to Vancouver?" CJ deflected some attention away from Josh, sensing his mood change.

"Something to do with Urban Policy and the high standard of living there, I wasn't really listening."

Leo glared at him.

"Anything else?" Leo enquired, "No? Good. CJ, go home. President's orders. Josh, Toby, go do whatever it is you do."

***

_Outside the Vice-President's Office_

_9.06 pm_

Donna looked around hoping to see Janeane, the Vice-president's secretary, so she could deliver the file in her hand. She'd spent a large chunk of her day working on the document contained within the folder and had been glad when Josh had asked her to drop it off. During the walk from the West Wing she'd tried to work out why she was pleased. She'd decided it was either because Josh wouldn't have the opportunity to ruin or loose it, as he surely would manage to do if he took it to the OEOB, or that she was just happy this was her last task of the day.

Now, if she could just find somebody to hand it to.

She heard voices coming from a little way down the hall and headed in that direction. The voice stopped before she located it, however. Seeing a partially open door, she peered in and found the room occupied.

Perfect.

Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door and was waved in.

"Good evening, Mr Vice-President. I'm sorry to intrude, but Josh asked me to drop this off for you and I can't find any of your staff."

"That's alright, come in. What do you have for me?" The Vice-President seemed unconcerned about his staff's absence.

"It's the summary of the SLP that you asked for, sir." Donna approached the desk and handed him the folder.

"That _I_ asked for..." the Vice-President sounded slightly puzzled, "Oh, yes, I remember. Josh's pet project. I was running late for a meeting and he wouldn't let me leave until I agreed to consider it." He smiled almost wistfully at Donna before opening the folder. "It's...umm...Hanna, right?"

"Donna, sir"

"Yes, of course, I'm sorry. Anyway I didn't expect....." Donna never discovered what was unexpected as something caught Hoynes' eye, "To challenge the perception that science is hard? Am I reading this right? Josh wants to spend $80M on telling people that science is easy?"

"Not quite, sir. The money is used, predominantly, to retrain teachers. A new syllabus and teaching methods combine to encourage kids who believe science is too difficult for them. Did you know, sir, that over 40 percent of science teachers didn't major in a science?" Donna suddenly found herself wondering if she had overstepped the mark as she was confronted with the piercing gaze of John Hoynes.

"You've read this?"

"I wrote it, sir." Donna shrugged.

The Vice-President looked back at the folder in front of him before returning his gaze to Donna.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" He asked, gesturing to the folder.

"Yes, sir."

Hoynes nodded, then looked at the clock on the wall.

"Okay, you have half an hour to convince me. Grab a seat." He moved toward the more comfortable chairs behind Donna and dropped the folder on the coffee table. "Would you like a drink? I don't have any coffee this late at night, but I have soda and I know where my Chief of Staff stashes a bottle of whiskey, if you're interested."

"A soda would be nice." Donna replied, not really wanting anything but she felt she was about to do a lot of talking. She took a seat on the couch as Hoynes handed her a can from the mini-fridge he was rummaging in.

"Okay, so tell me more about this program." Hoynes instructed as he took the chair next to her.

"Well, sir, the Scientific Literacy Program has several aims. Firstly, to improve the level of scientific understanding in high schools for its own sake. But this in turn will impact test scores and encourage a greater number of students to pursue science in college." Donna began. "It does this by making the teaching of science more relevant to everyday life and simpler to understand."

"So we're making the tests easier, is that what you're saying?"

"No, sir, we're just making science a little less daunting."

***

_Vice-President's Office_

_9.42 pm_

"But this aimed predominantly at mid-ability students? Why is that?"

The conversation between the Vice-President and Donna had been ongoing for some time and had overrun the thirty minutes Hoynes had originally set aside, however, the end didn't appear to be insight as Hoynes' interest remained undiminished.

"If you think of a typical class, it's student's ability can be represented as a bell curve," Donna quickly flipped to the relevant page, "with the top ten percent being classed as gifted and the bottom ten percent as requiring special attention. We have a lot of initiatives in place for the bottom ten percent but relatively few aimed at the 80 percent of kids in between those two categories. This is a cheap way to help a lot of kids." She finished by appealing to his political side, unknowingly echoing Josh's reason from earlier.

"Hmmm, what about the gifted students?" Hoynes pounced on the one group of kids Donna had left out.

"General thinking is that they don't require much help."

"You don't agree?"

"I think the gifted kids get neglected in favour of their classmates, yes, but I believe this program helps them as well, albeit indirectly."

"What makes you say that?" Hoynes pulled the file toward him and flipped through the pages, trying to find the relevant section. Donna shifted uncomfortably in her chair causing Hoynes to stop his reading and look at her.

"Ummm, you won't find it in there, sir." This caught the Vice-President's attention.

"So where is the data then?" he asked with a smile, enjoying the sight of an embarrassed and slightly flushed Donna.

"It's mostly anecdotal," she began, pushing her hair behind her ear to avoid meeting his eyes, "I, umm, called a couple of teachers involved in the pilot program and some of the students too." Donna felt herself blushing as she said this but a quick glance at the smiling Vice-President reassured her. She continued, "The students basically said that the faster their classmates understood the topic, the quicker they could move on to a new one so they spent less time being bored. The teachers said they could use the old teaching material to supplement the new syllabus when needed."

"Well, you certainly do your research, don't you? I wish I had someone that thorough on my staff. I don't suppose you want to work for me, do you?" Donna smiled brightly at the compliment. "What made you?....Why?.....If it's not in the report?"

"Why did I ask the students' opinions?" Donna attempted to clarify the question. "It was for personal reasons. I was dubious about a program that seems to ignore the bright kids. My nephew is always complaining that he's bored in class or that he's finished his work long before everyone else but the teacher is too busy helping them to give him anything else to do. I know the value of first hand experience when it come to schemes like this, but after speaking to a few participants, I was reassured."

"Why didn't you include it?" Hoynes asked, becoming more intrigued with the woman in front of him.

"It was hardly a comprehensive study, Mr. Vice-President, I just made a few phone calls and talked to some people."

"Oh, I think you undersell yourself, Donna."

"Thank you, sir." Donna began blushing again, unused to the extra research she did being appreciated.

"Have you ever been to the Naval Observatory, Donna?"

"No, sir." Donna was puzzled by the sudden shift in the conversation.

"Would you like to? My wife is away tonight, I could give you a tour...."

Donna stared at the man next to her, trying to work out if she had misheard the Vice-President. A hand on her knee convinced her she had neither misheard nor misunderstood. She froze for a moment, her mind blank. As the hand inched upward her brain kicked into gear, or more accurately, overdrive as she considered the political implications associated with both accepting the offer and declining it. Settling on the more prudent course of action, she gently removed his hand from her thigh.

"Thank you, Mr Vice-President. That's a very nice offer, unfortunately I can't take you up on it. I don't think it would be a good idea." She smiled at him, taking note of the fact he looked chastened but not offended, much to her relief.

She looked at the clock on the wall as she stood, "I should probably be going. You said I had half an hour to convince you and I've taken much longer than that so I'll just leave the file with you. It's a good program, sir and I hope you choose to support it. Thank you for your time and the soda."

She began walking toward the door but stopped as she heard Hoynes' tired sigh. Turning back into the room, she saw him pick up her file before collapsing back into couch.

"Good night, Mr Vice-President," she said before exiting.

She only received a vague wave in return.

***

_Operations Bullpen_

_10 pm_

Donna walked quickly through the bullpen to Josh's office. The lack of activity was normal this time of night and so not an indication of whether Josh was still in the West Wing. Josh's empty office, on the other hand, was.

"_Typical,"_ thought Donna, _"he works 'til midnight more often than not, yet the one night I need __him, he's left already." _She surveyed his office for his bag which was also missing. _"Great, just great!"_

She stood in the doorway, hands on hips, regarding the bullpen. Several interns were performing tasks unknown to her and it was only as a low level assistant scurried passed that Donna realised she was glaring at the room and it's occupants.

The calm confidence she had displayed in the Vice-Presidents office had deserted her as soon as she left the room. Furthermore, the walk from the OEOB had proven to be just long enough for her to work herself into a state of near panic.

She needed to talk to someone about what had happened tonight. Preferably someone with a higher security clearance than the interns that currently surrounded her. Someone that could be trusted. Someone that understood the unwritten rules of the White House. Someone that heard about everything that occurred in the building.

Two names sprung to mind.

She walked down the corridor to CJ's office to be greeted by a dark room and a locked door.

"_Right, Margaret it is," _she thought as she headed toward her friend's office.

"_Where is everyone tonight?" _Donna's panic was beginning to turn to anger as she failed to locate any senior staff member or friend. She kicked the chair next to Margaret's desk, feeling lost and desperate. Mindful of the level of trust Josh placed in the older man and the fact he practically lived in his office, she entered Leo's office.

"Seriously, where is everyone?" Donna addressed the vacant room, having completed a full circuit to ensure Leo wasn't hiding.

"Am I given to understand that you are criticising my Chief of Staff's hours?" Came the voice from behind her. Donna turned, noticing for the first time the door to the Oval Office was open.

"No, sir, I would never..."

"That's quite alright, Donna, I do it constantly. As does Margaret, now I think about it. Although you seem to be the only one promoting longer hours for Leo. Did you want him for something specific?"

"No, sir, at least nothing that can't wait until tomorrow." Donna smiled at the President, somehow he had the ability to make almost anyone feel relaxed in his presence.

"Good, now, if you could just teach your boss that not everything needs to be dealt with instantly."

"Yes, sir."

Jed looked at the young woman still stood in Leo's office. Something about her was off. Even if he hadn't seen her kick a chair, the lack of response to his last comment would have tipped him off. Jed didn't know her as well as he had when they were campaigning, that kind of camaraderie was hard to maintain off the campaign trail and even more so as the leader of the free world. Yet he could still read her well enough to know that she was upset.

"Would you like to join me?" Donna looked up sharply at the question.

"Are you busy?" Jed asked, slightly surprised by her reaction to his previous question. Donna shook her head.

"No? Good, come and keep me company for a while. I'm waiting for a phone call from Russia and don't have a lot to do while I wait. While some say that the telephone is a boon, I choose to disagree."

"Really, Mr President, why is that?" Donna asked as she walked through the connecting doors into the Oval Office. The President waved her into a seat as he fixed a couple of drinks from the cart.

"Before the telephone was invented, the business of governing was conducted mainly through the written word which took time to be delivered. The time scale involved in delivering a letter to, say, Russia was significantly longer than it takes to place a phone call. Meaning that it was not necessary to account for the time difference when dealing with foreign countries and Presidents like Jefferson and Madison could leave the office at a reasonable hour."

"Sir, I don't think I've ever heard you complain about your job before," Donna noted as she accepted a drink from her commander-in-chief.

"Oh, that wasn't complaining, Donna. No, no, that was nostalgia for a simpler time."

"Can you be nostalgic for a time you haven't actually experienced, sir?"

"That's a good question. And may I say, I appreciate the lack of witty remarks about me being around when the telephone was invented. I can name several members of my staff for whom, that would have been too good an opportunity to pass up." Donna giggled, thinking of exactly which senior staffer would make such a comment. Josh's name was at the top of her list.

"Perhaps it was just too easy an opportunity for me, there was no challenge." Her comment was rewarded by a relaxed and happy smile from the President. Jed was relieved to see Donna brighten and joke with him. Obviously whatever was troubling her wasn't so serious as to completely dampen her spirits.

"Now, there's the wise-ass remark I was expecting."

"Well, I try to live up to expectations, Mr. President."

"And you succeed on an almost daily basis."

"Thank you, sir." Donna was surprised and slightly uncomfortable at receiving a second piece of unsolicited praise that evening. She attempted to change the subject, "How was your trip, sir? I haven't had chance to ask CJ or Sam about it yet." Donna asked.

"It was fine, we got to stay in a castle."

"A castle?"

"Yes, a real castle. It's the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. You should see it, Donna, it's beautiful. It's been in use for almost a thousand years. A thousand years. When we were declaring our independence, Windsor castle had already stood on that spot for 700 years. It was there before we even knew America existed! Can you imagine that!"

"No, sir, I'm still in awe of the history here at the White House. What's it like? I've never seen a castle. Unless you count the one at Disneyland."

"It's not even close." Jed peered at her over his glasses before launching into the conversation, glad to have a willing participant for a change, "You know, the word castle comes from the Latin castellum, which comes from castrum meaning 'fortified place'. Now, one of the primary fortifications in Windsor is the Round Tower which was commissioned by King Edward III in 1350...."

Donna settled back into her chair in anticipation of a long discussion filled with historical facts and trivia that would paint a detailed picture of a castle she would probably never get to see in person but would provide a welcome distraction from the evening's earlier events.

***


	2. Tuesday

**AN: **In case you are wondering, this story takes place between 'Indians In The Lobby' and 'The Women of Qumar'. If anyone asks, just tell them November is now six weeks long.

**Spoilers: **Anything up to and including 'Indians in the Lobby', obviously. However this was written with knowledge of all seven seasons and contains foreshadowing and hints for episodes after this. You have been warned.

Chapter 2 – Tuesday

_Press Secretary's Office_

_6.48 am_

"Morning Carol," CJ said as she wondered through the outer office and picked up her phone messages from last night and this morning.

"Morning,"

"How was your date?" CJ inquired of her assistant.

Carol made a non-committal noise in response.

"That good, huh?"

"It wasn't terrible, but I don't think I'll be seeing him again." Carol sighed quietly at the thought of yet another failed date.

"Damn, I thought I was going to get some vicarious action for a while then." CJ had made her way to her desk and taken her jacket off. Carol followed her and lent on the doorjamb.

"Sorry to disappoint you, boss. Although from the rumour I heard yesterday, I'm going to be living through you this week." CJ looked up from her email to see a grinning Carol.

"What rumour?"

"Danny's in town."

"Danny? What's he doing here?"

"Don't know," Carol shrugged, "I just overheard Katie saying he was back."

Carol felt uncomfortable under the stare CJ was throwing her way. She began to regret having said anything when CJ abruptly changed the subject.

"Anything on the wires this morning?" She looked back at her screen, seeking a distraction from Carol's latest piece of gossip.

"Nothing urgent, there's still some chat about the President's joke...."

CJ groaned, "Anything else?"

"Not really, Donna called and asked for a minute..."

"What's Josh done now?"

"No idea, should I tell her you have some time before senior staff?" CJ nodded so Carol continued, "Billy Kenworthy called, he wanted a quote about...."

***

_Operations Bullpen_

_7.03 am_

Donna sat at her computer, eating a yoghurt, enjoying the relative peace of the early morning office. She scrolled further down the page she was reading as movement caught her eye. She looked up to see Josh strolling into the bullpen, reading the sports section.

"Morning," He called across the room without looking up.

"Did you know that the Order of the Garter was founded by King Edward III, is considered the oldest and highest honour in the UK and..." Donna tailed off, looking up at Josh who was stood next to her desk staring at her.

"Huh? You're wearing a garter?" Josh's selective hearing had picked out what he believed to be the salient points from the conversation.

"No, Josh."

"No? You didn't just tell me you're wearing a garter found by someone called Edward? Is this Karen Cahill all over again? Who's Edward? Is he your latest beau?" The grin on Josh's face informed Donna that he was about to launch into a torrent of abuse about her past choices regarding her love life. Donna decided to cut him off before he had chance to say something hurtful.

"King Edward the third of England, Josh, died sometime ago so no, I'm not dating him. He founded the Order of the Garter which has twenty-four members including the Queen and the Prince of Wales." Josh didn't look any less confused as she explained this to him. He turned sharply and strode into his office, confident that Donna would follow him.

"Does the Order of the Garter have anything to do with, you know, actual garters?" Josh grinned as he saw Donna in his doorway. He threw his coat over the back of his chair and sat down.

"Well, some say that the Order began when a Countess's garter slipped down during a dance at the King's palace. Some courtiers laughed at her so the King picked it up and pined it to his leg, saying 'shame upon him who thinks evil of it' which is still the Order's motto."

"Why are we talking about this?"

"Because I don't get enough opportunities to use the word 'courtiers'." Donna smiled at Josh, watching his patience diminish. "Because I thought it would be nice if we started the morning with something other than the latest poll or last night's Mets game."

"And you thought I'd be okay with that? As much as I'd like to discuss undergarments as they relate to inane historical trivia, with you, I get enough of that from the President..."

"You discuss underwear with the President?"

"...and this is a place of work, serious work, the work of running the country..."

Josh's rant may have continued but Donna stopped listening as she moved to the desk to answer the ringing phone. By the time she had concluded the conversation, Josh had lapsed into silence either having run out of steam or he had been distracted by one of the many files on his desk.

"Who was that?"

"That was Carol, I need to go over to CJ's office for a bit. You've got senior staff in twenty."

"Mmm...okay," Josh mumbled as Donna left his office, "and the baseball season ended weeks ago! Have I taught you nothing?!"

***

_Press Secretary's Office_

_7.15 am_

"Donna! Top of the morning to you!" CJ greeted cheerfully.

Donna smiled nervously, aware that she was probably about to destroy the Press Secretary's good mood.

"You had a good trip, then, I take it?"

"I did indeed! I love England! The land of literature. The home of Shakespeare and Dickens. They have some really great sayings too."

"So I hear. Although, isn't 'top of the morning' Irish?"

CJ waved away the comment with a smile, "And I've returned home to find the White House still standing and country intact, despite the fact we left Josh more or less in charge. Either that or I just haven't found out about whatever he's done yet."

Donna grinned in response to the comment about her boss's propensity for finding trouble.

"Although Carol did mention he wanted to see me before senior staff..." CJ paused to consider what Josh could want to talk to her about.

"Actually, CJ, it was me that wanted to see you."

"You?"

"Yeah, do you mind if I close the door?"

CJ nodded and felt her good mood drain away. Any conversation that required a closed door was bound to be bad. Part of her clung to the hope that Donna just wanted to discuss something personal but the other part was busy coming up with worst case scenarios for a range of subjects. The hope died as she watched Donna take a seat, tuck her hair behind one ear and place her hands together in her lap.

"Umm...I don't know how to..." Donna began nervously before sliding back into silence. She was unable to work out the best way to broach the subject and unaware of the anxiety her procrastination was causing CJ. She took a deep breath before trying a different approach, "Remember when Sam slept with the call-girl?"

CJ's nod went unnoticed as Donna continued to study her hands.

"You said that you're our first phone call...and I tried to find you last night but...I probably should have called you anyway, but then the President...."

"Donna, what's going on?" CJ broke into Donna's rambling explanation, her level of concern heightened at the mention of the President. Donna looked up at and took courage from CJ's patient yet slightly puzzled expression.

"Last night Josh asked me to take a memo over to the VP's office. Hoynes asked my opinion and we spent a while talking about it. Then he..."

CJ lent back in her chair and closed her eyes. Donna noticed the movement and paused for a moment.

"Tell me you didn't." CJ whispered.

"Of course not, CJ!"

"You wouldn't be the first."

"You knew about this? You knew what he was like?"

"Donna, I'm surprised you've only just found out. Welcome to the club." CJ sounded resigned to the club's new member. "Do me a favour and spell this out for me."

"Huh?"

"Just so I know what level of membership to sign you up for" CJ offered a wry grin, easing Donna's embarrassment and allowing her to relax slightly.

"A bad case of wandering hands, oh, and I was offered a tour of the Observatory, which was nice." Donna's restless night faded into a dim memory in CJ's presence and allowed her to recover her sense of humour.

"You should have taken him up on the tour, I hear the house is beautiful. Seriously, I probably shouldn't be advising you what to do. As Press Secretary I would rather know nothing about this but that ship sailed many years ago. Still I'd rather keep this out of the press. As your friend, I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you that you've probably a good case for a sexual harassment suit. In which case you should probably go see someone in the Counsel's Office."

"I have no intention of going to the press, CJ. I know how quickly this would become a thing. I couldn't do that to the administration, to the President. Especially after...well, everything. I just thought you should know, you know, in case."

"Okay, but just so we're clear, I'm not asking you to cover this up. That alone could bury us if it got out."

"So what should we do?" Donna asked.

"Does anyone else know? Does anyone know where you were last night? Did anyone see coming or going?"

"That sounds like how a cover up starts," Donna grinned at the barrage of questions, "Josh knows I went over there and a couple of Hoynes' staff saw me leave. But I don't think they recognised me."

CJ smiled at Donna's ability to underestimate her role and importance in the West Wing. She seemed to believe that just because she had the word assistant in her job title she was invisible to those she perceived as higher in the hierarchy. Unbeknown to her, hers was a name known not just in the West Wing but in the OEOB and on the Hill, two places where it was always spoken with respect. There was no way Hoynes' staff hadn't recognised her.

"Okaaay," CJ said slowly, "leave it with me."

"Thank you, CJ." She glanced at her watch as she opened the door. "You've got senior staff in a couple of minutes."

***

_Chief of Staff's Office_

_7.45 am (15 minutes into daily senior staff meeting)_

"...You know what else I think?"

Josh heard Sam ask as Margaret waved him into Leo's office. He never did find out, however, what Sam thought as his arrival brought the conversation to a halt.

"Josh, nice of you to join us." Leo's voice was dripping in sarcasm.

"Sorry, Leo. Donna's...Donna forgot to tell me..." Josh looked around the room realising nobody was buying his excuse, "Donna didn't give me my two minute warning. I don't know where she went." He sounded perplexed at the idea of Donna being anywhere but her desk and looked around the room, as if expecting to see her there. The other occupants of the room looked either amused or resigned at Josh's antics as befit their station and the amount of time they had known the man.

"Did you look at the polling data?" Toby asked the late arrival.

"It's not as bad as I expected," CJ put in before Josh could respond.

"Not as bad?" Toby asked, initially quiet but with steadily rising volume, "Not as bad! He's polling in the low 40s on job efficiency, mid 40s for strong leader and only 39 percent in the top two boxes for trustworthy! 39 percent, CJ! That means 61 percent of the country thinks he's a liar!"

"I can do the math, Toby!" CJ yelled back.

"Or if that's too abstract for you, three of the people in this room no longer trust him!" Toby drove his point home with steely determination.

CJ and Toby glared at each other as an uncomfortable silence descended, the room's other occupants considering the statistic.

"Are you done?" Leo broke the stalemate.

"So, do we have new polling data then?" Sam interjected, attempting to lighten the mood. Leo choose that moment to shuffle some paperwork effectively hiding his smile while Josh shot him a smirk from where he lent on a filing cabinet. CJ returned to her seat but Toby remained where he was, only now he was glaring at Sam.

"Seriously, I haven't seen it." Sam returned to the subject at hand, his humour quickly fading under Toby's scowl, "When did we discuss this?"

"Yesterday in senior staff," Josh filled him in, "Come to think of it, where were you yesterday?"

"On a plane for eight hours, then down in Counsel's office discussing the legality of congestion charges."

"Arguing with Ainsley, you mean." CJ couldn't resist teasing the younger man.

"You're being charged for a cold?" Josh asked, puzzled.

"Huh?"

"Congestion charge?" Josh reiterated.

"No, it's...it's a thing..." Sam waved his hand as if that explained everything.

"Oh, okay." Josh replied, already bored with the topic. "Any word on the investigation?"

"I'm scheduled to appear on the 24th," Leo informed the group causing Josh to lapse into silence and wish he hadn't asked.

"Of December? That's some Christmas present." Sam remarked.

"Isn't it?" Leo responded dryly, signalling the end of that line of conversation, "Did you manage to get Hoynes on board with the SLP? Is he going to meet with Cryer?"

"Umm..." Josh began.

"We need Cryer in on this. We can't afford to screw this up, Josh. You've seen our numbers." Leo admonished.

"I'll meet with him again,"

"He's leaving for Vancouver this afternoon." Toby reminded him.

"I'll talk to him." Josh was quick to assure Leo.

"What have you set up about the UK extradition treaty?" Leo's voice conveyed his impatience with the lack of progress being made.

"I'm going to meet with State then Ed and Larry to discuss strategy."

"Okay, good. Anything else? Right, thank you everybody." Leo dismissed the senior staff, ending the meeting.

"Thank you, Leo." The three men replied as they left the office.

***

_Corridor outside Chief of Staff's Office/Operations bullpen_

_8 am_

Josh strode out of Leo's office, followed by Sam and Toby. He heard Sam ask for a copy of the new poll before the two men cut through the empty Roosevelt room on their way back to the communications department. Josh continued down the corridor, into the lobby, where he almost collided with Donna. Reaching out a hand to steady her, he simultaneously turned her back to the direction she had just come from as he guided her back to his office, oblivious of the paperwork in her hand and her current task.

"I need you to arrange a meeting for me with State. Find out when Ed and Larry have ten minutes today or tomorrow. Also call Triplehorn. No, not Triplehorn, I need a Senator that likes Europe."

"MacKenna?"

"Delaware? Yeah, okay. I also need to meet with Hoynes today, before he leaves for Milwaukee or wherever the hell it is he's going."

"Vancouver."

"Actually, do that first." Josh paused as they reached Donna's desk, "Where were you this morning? I was late for senior staff." He lent against the partition. Donna put the folders she had been carrying on her chair and grabbed a notepad.

"I went to see CJ. I told you that." She said as she jotted down the tasks Josh had just set her, "And there's no need to snip at me, just because you're in a bad mood." She set the notepad back on the desk with a deliberateness and a look that let Josh know he had overstepped the line. He nodded slightly in apology and slapped the partition in farewell as he turned and headed for his office.

He didn't make it into his office, however, as he overheard an unknown intern, relay a message to Donna.

"Wait, what did you just say?" Josh practically pounced on the young man, dragging him into his outer office.

"I was giving Donna a phone message."

"What message?"

The intern glanced over a Donna, who was now on the phone, before answering.

"Hey, you work for me. Not Donna. What message?" Josh threatened.

"The Vice-President called, he asked me to let Donna know he was serious about the job offer..."

Josh was out the door and next to Donna's desk in time to hear her thank the Vice-President and hang up. The intern decided discretion was the better part of valour and disappeared out of Josh and Donna's sight.

"Hoynes offered you a job? When did this happen? Were you going to tell me?"

"I didn't think he was serious. I dropped the SLP memo off last night and he made an offhand comment about me joining his staff." Donna shrugged, wanting Josh to drop the subject.

"What did you tell him?" Josh asked, a hint of vulnerability in his voice and stance.

"I told him I already had a job."

"Damn right!" Josh grinned, relieved. However he wasn't quite ready to let Donna off the hook. "And while you were fishing for a promotion did you remember to arrange a meeting for me?"

"He said if it was about the SLP to tell you he's on board. He'll met with Cryer when he gets back. Do you still want a meeting?"

"No. Just the other stuff will be fine." He turned to leave. "He said when he gets back?"

"Yeah, problem?"

"He's cutting it fine. The vote's on Friday."

***

_Chief of Staff's Office_

_8 am_

"Okay, good. Anything else? Right, thank you everybody." Leo dismissed the senior staff, ending the meeting.

"Thank you, Leo." The three men replied as they left the office.

CJ contemplated leaving with the men, especially considering Leo's bad mood. She didn't want to be the bearer of more bad news. She remained seated, however, as the office emptied. Leo didn't notice her at first as he lost himself in the latest security briefing.

"CJ?"

"We may have a problem, Leo."

"The joke?"

CJ stood and moved closer.

"Hoynes. Donna came to me this morning. She said he made a pass at her last night." CJ watched the emotions play across Leo's face as the information sank in.

"Donna?"

"Yeah, she's happy to keep quiet and let me handle it."

"Who else knows?"

"Details? Just me, Hoynes and Donna. But she was seen coming out of his office by his staff."

"Josh?" He asked.

CJ shook her head.

"Good. Keep it that way."

"Is this going to affect the SLP?"

"Maybe. Take care of it, will ya?"

***

_Press Briefing Room_

_Noon_

Danny sat toward the back of the room, lost in his thoughts. His doodling was interrupted occasionally by people greeting him but for the most part he was oblivious to the comings and goings in the room. His musing led him down a variety of paths both professional and personal, some based on hints and speculation, others on hard facts, some fanciful, laced with 'what ifs', others very much grounded in reality. A familiar voice cut through the turmoil in the room.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, if you could please take your seats, CJ will be in shortly." Carol said over the intercom.

Danny stood and moved to the back of the room. Leaning against the partition he crossed his arms and tried to prepare himself for the briefing.

CJ walked into the room and looked over the assembled reporters. She noticed Danny standing at the back and caught his eye before deliberately looking at his usual seat then back at him. Danny shook his head slightly and smiled at the eloquence she could convey without saying a word.

"Good morning, I have a few statements to make, then I'll take your questions." CJ began.

Danny only half listened as CJ rattled through updates to the President's schedule and several minor policy announcements. He kept an ear open for any major shifts in policy, or a gaff or anything that didn't sit right with him but found none. He continued to daydream through the questions, noting absently that CJ glanced his way occasionally as if waiting for him to delve into fray.

It was a light day. CJ answered or parried several questions from the more senior reporters then turned to the junior reporters at the back of the room. Danny felt old and out of touch as he watched eager young journalists that he didn't recognise compete for the privilege of being called on. Yet another bunch of interns, most of them would probably be gone by Easter, yet CJ seemed to know them all by name. Danny's attention drifted. And then...

"CJ, would the White House care to comment on the rumour that Josh Lyman is involved with his assistant?"

CJ stared at the young reporter.

The more experienced reporters froze.

The respectful quiet of the room changed subtly.

Danny wasn't the only one to cringe in sympathy for the kid.

He'd had several years experience in the White House before he'd faced that glare for the first time. He'd seen it many times since then, they all had, although Danny possibly more than most. They knew what it meant and knew that this could end badly for the kid. Danny continued to watch CJ while trying to discover which of his colleagues should be keeping the intern in line.

CJ looked pointedly at Katie.

"_Oh crap, he's from the Post," _thought Danny.

"The White House doesn't comment on the personal lives of staffers." CJ's response was curt, her tone made it plain that was the end of the matter.

"CJ, do you think it's appropriate, if they are involved?"

"_At least we're not the only ones in trouble," _Danny grinned as another intern jumped in, apparently unable to read between the lines. He saw Mark squirm in front of him, trying to disappear into his seat.

"That's all for now folks, I'll be back later for an update." CJ wisely ignored the question and left the room to a slightly subdued chorus of 'thank you's from the press corps.

Katie stood, turned to Danny and gestured toward the retreating Press Secretary, managing to convey her question across busy room. Danny shook his head in response then pointed to the wayward intern, indicating his intent. Katie acknowledged him then hurried after CJ to apologise.

Danny waited, still leaning against the partition as the room began to empty. As the intern went to pass him by, Danny reached out and snagged his arm. The kid looked slightly confused at being held back, especially by a man he admired but had previously only seen in corridors.

"Mr. Concanon," he began hesitantly.

"Hang on," Danny wanted to wait until the room was clear to have this conversation. It didn't take long until they were left with just Mark and his intern huddled in another corner.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Simon,"

"Well, Simon, I take it you're with the Post?" Danny didn't want to chew the kid out if he could pass it off to someone else.

"Yes, but, I didn't think you knew me," Simon's proud look as the Post was mentioned became almost obnoxious as he thought that he had come to the attention of Danny Concanon.

"I didn't," Simon visibly deflated.

"Then how did you know...?"

"I'm a reporter, I have my ways," Simon was beginning to look uneasy as the thought finally occurred to him that he probably wasn't about to be praised.

"There are certain rules associated with being a member of the White House press corps. Some are obvious, some you've probably been told, some you are expected just to know. From your question, today, it appears you've missed one. So let me spell it out for you. Your question was inappropriate. You don't ask questions about the staff's personal lives in the briefing room. Are we clear?"

"But it was a relevant question!"

"It may be, but it's also inappropriate. The briefing room is for policy and politics not gossip and unfounded rumour!"

"But what about freedom of the press?"

"I'm not saying 'don't chase the story', I'm just saying the briefing room is not the place to do it. If you can get the rumour confirmed...I know several people that would be interested. Now, get lost."

Simon scurried out of sight. Danny strolled over to where Mark was just finishing reading the riot act to the other intern.

"...wouldn't be alive. So if their relationship is 'inappropriate' it's not for us to say. Eh?" Danny caught the tail end of what Mark was saying as he approached. Mark dismissed his intern and turned to a grinning Danny.

"So you told him?" Danny enquired.

"Just the highlights. You?"

"I told him he could chase the story if he wants and to let me know if he gets it confirmed."

"You're cruel!"

"I've gotta have fun somehow..." Danny shrugged as the two men made their way out of the room.

***

_Corridor outside Press Briefing Room_

_12.12 pm_

"CJ!" Katie called toward the back of the rapidly retreating Press secretary. CJ glanced over her shoulder and slowed as she realised who wanted her.

"CJ, I'm sorry about that," she gestured toward the briefing room, "It won't happen again."

"You bet it won't." CJ began.

"He's new. He believes every rumour and that every rumour is news." Katie hastily tried to explain. "I didn't know that he'd heard that one, or I would have...Danny's talking to him now..."

Katie tailed off as she realised she'd lost CJ's attention. She glanced back just in time to see Carol approach.

"The VP can see you now, CJ."

"Okay," CJ acknowledged before turning back to Katie, "Just make sure Danny isn't spinning him a tall tale!"

The reporter grinned in response as she mentally filed away the information Carol had just disclosed.

_***_

_Outer Oval Office_

_2.57 pm_

"Does he have a minute?" Toby asked as he hovered near Charlie's desk.

"He's in with NSA. You can wait, they shouldn't be much longer."

"Uhh. Okay."

Toby fiddled with the items on the desk. Charlie glanced his way, obviously wanting to say something. The silence stretched as both men searched for something to say.

"It's very impressive. Even if it is a doll house." Charlie informed the Communications Director.

Toby raised his eyebrows.

"I'm just saying it's impressive, that's all." Charlie looked up to see Toby smirking slightly.

"It has running water?"

"And a working elevator." Charlie nodded.

"That's pretty impressive." Toby finally had to admit.

"It is, you should've seen it. It took 1500 craftsmen three years to make..." Charlie trailed off as he realised that he'd lost Toby's attention. He glanced over his shoulder to see what had distracted the other man.

The TV behind him was showing a special bulletin. Charlie reached over and increased the volume.

"...Bring you this breaking news. We are getting early reports of a shooting at a high school in Indiana..."

Charlie turned back to Toby, only to find an empty office.

"...At the moment we're hearing that two are dead and at least eleven injured..."

***


	3. Wednesday

**Previously on The West Wing, Rainy Day Friends:**

"_Last night Josh asked me to take a memo over to the VP's office. Hoynes asked my opinion and we spent a while talking about it. Then he..." _

"_Tell me you didn't." CJ whispered._

"_Of course not, CJ!" Donna replied._

*******

"_Did you manage to get Hoynes on board with the SLP? Is he going to meet with Cryer?"_

"_Umm..." Josh began._

"_We need Cryer in on this. We can't afford to screw this up, Josh. You've seen our numbers." Leo admonished._

*******

_The TV behind him was showing a special bulletin. Charlie reached over and increased the volume._

"_...Bring you this breaking news. We are getting early reports of a shooting at a high school in Indiana......At the moment we're hearing that two are dead and at least eleven injured..."_

Chapter 3 – Wednesday

_Oval Office_

_7 am_

Toby shuffled into the Oval Office to find Josh and Sam already sat, one on each couch. Sam looked up and nodded in acknowledgment as Toby took the seat next to Josh. He picked up one of the discarded newspapers from the seat between him and Josh. The three men read in silence, the disturbing headlines and images rendered conversation superfluous.

CJ entered to find a withdrawn group. She took a seat in the upright chair opposite the desk. Josh absent-mindedly waved a newspaper in her direction. CJ declined the offer with a shake off her head, between yesterday evening's press briefing and Carol's morning update, CJ had heard enough about the shooting at Harrison High School for the moment. She looked around the room, searching for something else to talk about.

"Did you manage to get in to see Hoynes before he left?" CJ asked Josh.

"No, I didn't need to. He's on board with the SLP."

"Oh," CJ couldn't think of anything else to say. She went back to gazing around the room.

"He offered Donna a job." Josh mentioned.

He still felt slightly uneasy at the thought of Donna taking another job. He looked up to find three pairs of eyes regarding him. He shrugged, trying to convince himself and the others that he was okay with the idea.

"She turned him down." He couldn't help but smirk as he spoke.

"She did?" Sam asked, surprised.

"Of course! Why wouldn't she?"

Sam and Toby exchanged a glance. CJ suddenly became very interested in a loose thread on the arm of her chair. Before Sam could respond, the door from the portico opened and the President entered with Leo. Everybody stood. Josh made a futile attempt at tidying the stack of newspapers next to him that threatened to spill onto the floor at the sudden movement.

"Good morning, Mr President."

The President looked up from the folder in his hand and surveyed the room.

"Good morning." The President continued to peer over the rim of his glasses at Josh as he lost the battle with gravity and the papers, "Morning, Josh."

"Morning, sir."

Bartlet waved everybody back into their seats and bent to help Josh retrieve some of the wayward papers before joining them. He sighed heavily as he read the revised death toll. Resting the paper and his glasses on his knees, he contemplated how he would have felt if, during the fourteen hours of surgery, Josh had succumbed to the extent of his injuries. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, and he was guessing that it was only a shadow of what the parents of Nikki Nguyen were feeling this morning.

"Honi soit qui mal y pense," Jed uttered the words foremost in his mind.

"Who's on Latin translation duty this week?" CJ joked, eliciting small grins from all the people in the room.

"It's Old French, I'll have you know, CJ. It's the motto of the Order of the Garter, it means..."

"Shame on him that thinks evil." Josh interrupted.

The other occupants of the room turned to him in surprise.

"I didn't know you spoke Old French, Josh." The President said, sounding impressed.

"He doesn't." Sam put in.

"No," Josh confirmed, "but I know other things!" He tried to defend himself.

The President frowned at him.

Toby scoffed.

CJ and Sam exchanged grins.

Leo just lent back in his chair and enjoyed the show.

"What?! I know things! I got a Fullbright scholarship! I happen to know the motto of the Garter people!"

Josh's declaration was met by varying states of skepticism.

"I know that the Order was started when the King picked up someone's garter and said 'shame on him that thinks evil' or something like that."

Everyone looked to the President for conformation of this fact. Bartlet studied Josh until things fell into place.

"Donna told you that, didn't she?"

"Umm...yes, sir, she did. How'd you know?" Josh looked suitably sheepish as his source of information was revealed.

"Sir, perhaps we should begin..." Leo hated being the one to bring everyone down, just as the mood was lifting but he had a meeting with Hutchinson and they had a lot to cover this morning.

"Yes, yes, of course."

"Where are we on the SLP, Josh?" Leo began.

"We're still eight votes down, but Hoynes has agreed to meet with Cryer when he gets back. We get at least six votes with Cryer's and I'm meeting with Conroy, Hark and Lewis today and tomorrow."

Bartlet nodded.

"Okay. What's next?"

***

_Lobby/Operations Bullpen/Press Secretary's Office_

_1.15 pm_

"So, I thought you handled yesterday's briefing well,"

CJ was greeted as she entered the lobby. She paused her juggling of coffee, handbag and ID card long enough to acknowledge the speaker.

"Why, thank you, Daniel. You know, I'm never sure if I'm doing my job well until I receive my critique from the Washington Post." CJ continued trying to put her card back in her bag without spilling her coffee.

"I was only saying. It must have been a tough one last night. You handled it with poise."

CJ regarded him levelly for a moment, seeking any trace of sarcasm. Finding none, CJ began to shrug off her coat, suddenly finding herself very warm.

"Do you want me to hold that for you?" Danny gestured toward the disposable cup.

"No, it's fine." She lied.

Danny grinned and removed the cup from her hand despite her protests. There ensued a less than graceful dance as CJ's bag, coat and coffee was passed between them.

"So, I heard an interesting rumour this morning," Danny said as they entered the bullpen.

They walked past Donna's desk and almost ran into Josh. Josh and Donna were oblivious to the near collision and their discussion was loud enough to be easily overheard by the two people following them as they strode through the bullpen. CJ and Danny exchanged a knowing look and fell into mutually agreed silence to allow them to enjoy the banter properly.

"Donna," Josh whined, "I don't care about dolls houses!"

"You asked me what we talked about. And it has running water, Josh. That's better than some apartments I've looked at." Donna explained as if it should be obvious.

"So what else did you talk about?" Josh inquired.

"Not much, I learnt a bit about the history of the castle and we talked about the invention of the telephone and it's impact on society. You know, the usual." Donna replied with a smile.

The exchange had carried them over to the coffee machine. Donna watched CJ and Danny enter CJ's office as she poured herself a drink.

"He's the President of the United States, Donna, you can't just have a casual chat!" Josh stated as he watched Donna lick the stirrer before dropping it in the trash.

"He invited me, Josh. What was I supposed to do?" Donna's expression shifted suddenly from playful to introspective as she applied the same logic to another situation.

Josh had forgotten the point of the conversation during the 'stirrer incident' which he had already named and added to his mental collection of 'Cute Donna Moments'. He noticed the change in mood but didn't comment, instead he turned Donna gently back toward his office, happy to drop the issue and let her think she had won this round. As they passed CJ's office he saw Danny sitting there and raised his coffee in greeting.

Danny nodded back then returned his attention to CJ who had noticed the interaction between the men.

"That question you got yesterday? About them?" CJ indicated she knew which question he meant, "It came from Hoynes."

CJ looked up sharply.

"The intern got it from Natalie, his Chief of Staff's assistant. I convinced him it's just office gossip and hearsay. The kid's not been here long enough to know about the weird moral code the assistants have got going on when it comes to gossip. But I have. Natalie wouldn't volunteer that information." Danny informed her.

CJ's eyes narrowed at the new information, "Yeah, the assistants here are all very loyal to their bosses and each other, I just didn't realise it stretched across the road."

Danny raised his eyebrows at the comment which hinted at a less than close relationship between the West Wing and the VP's office.

"I hear you dropped by the VP's office yesterday. Is there something going on with the VP?" He couldn't resist digging for a little more information.

"How did you...? Never mind! Why are you here? Was there something you wanted, Danny?"

"No, I just wanted to give you a heads up about..." Danny gestured vaguely out to the bullpen.

"That's why you're...No, I meant why are you back in the Beltway?"

"I had some vacation owing."

"You came back to Washington...as a tourist?"

"Well they say you never explore the city you live in." Danny smiled, "And this is our nation's capital. I don't suppose you'd care to join me in some sightseeing, would you?"

"Sightseeing? What? Where? Are you planning to take a tour of the White House?"

"Sure, why not? I know some people, I may be able to get us an all access pass."

CJ laughed, "Maybe some other time..."

"How about the International Spy Museum, then? I've always wanted to go."

"You're making that one up, surely?" CJ asked in disbelief.

"No, it's real. I read about it when I first moved here. Not sure where it is though. I think the location's classified."

CJ threw a ball of paper at him and laughed, "Get out."

Danny picked up the paper and said, "You'd never make a spy, leaving this sort of paper trail!"

CJ shook her head, a happy smile on her face as Danny left the room.

***

_Carol's Office_

_1.20 pm_

Carol returned to her desk and was surprised to hear the sound of laughter coming from CJ's office. The entire press department had been somber all day, yesterday's shooting had cast a pall over everyone. She heard a man's voice coming from the other office and CJ chuckle again. She stole a discrete look into her boss's office and saw the source of CJ's amusement. Carol politely ignored any snippets she overheard, she was just grateful to hear CJ's laugh which had been conspicuously absent all day.

"Are you a spy, Carol?" Danny's voice startled her.

"Umm...no?" She responded slightly confused.

"Don't talk to him!" CJ called through the doorway.

"Uhh...okay."

Danny strolled down the corridor with a grin and wave in Carol's direction, leaving her none the wiser.

_***_

_Outer Oval Office_

_2.18 pm_

Leo entered the outer office from the Mural Room intending to head straight back to his office, when the sound of CJ's voice made him pause. Scanning the room he realised her voice was coming from the TV showing the press briefing. He lent against Mrs. Landingham's empty desk to watch.

"...Can confirm that 50 shots were fired in total. That is a full magazine for this type of semi-automatic rifle. The shooter was apprehended once the magazine was empty."

"CJ!?! Any idea why the armed response team waited so long?" Leo recognised the voice asking the question but couldn't attach it to a face. CJ's reply was obscured by Charlie's and the President's voices behind him.

"Oh for the love of....Charlie, it was a joke! She laughed! How are they still making a big deal out of this?"

"I think she only laughed to be polite, sir." Charlie pointed out gently.

"Still it was three days ago and it's not as if nothing's happened in that time!" Bartlet indicated the TV showing CJ. "In the grand scheme of things it should never have been a three day story."

"No, sir."

Leo smirked at Charlie as the young man moved behind his desk. Leo switched his attention back to the President who was now standing quietly watching CJ release the names of the fourteen students injured around this time yesterday.

"Honi soit qui mal y pense, Leo."

"It's not the ones that _think_ evil that I worry about, sir." Leo replied.

Jed looked to his right, where his Chief of Staff stood. The two men locked gazes as understanding passed between them. As if on cue, they both dropped their eyes and returned to their offices.

***

_Corridor Outside the Press Briefing Room_

_2.30 pm_

CJ closed the door behind her, lent against it and closed her eyes. She let the gentle bustle of the corridor wash over her as she took a few deep breaths. Danny was right, she hated briefings like this, she always felt drained after them.

"_Just one more minute," _CJ told herself.

Suddenly, she felt a breeze against her arm and heard a small thud next to her. She opened her eyes to see Josh leaning on the wall next to her, mirroring her pose.

"I don't want to talk about the briefing or the shooting." CJ informed him, closing her eyes again.

"I don't want to talk about the SLP." Josh countered.

"Fine."

"Good."

They stood like that for a few moments.

"So, Danny's back."

"Yeah, I saw." Josh responded, "He's been in....in Louisiana, hasn't he?"

"Mmm...Mandeville, the Majority Leader's home town."

"He must be glad to be back in civilisation."

CJ turned to look at Josh, "It's hardly the back of beyond, Josh."

"Still, being surrounded by all those Republicans all the time, urgh!" Josh shook in disgust. CJ watched, not sure if he was joking until he flashed her his cheeky grin, pushed himself off the wall and strode off down the corridor.

_***_

_Roosevelt Room_

_3.24 pm_

Josh lent back, stretching until he felt a slight pull in his side. Why did he only notice the tightness there when there was a gun related story in the news? He rubbed his eyes. He'd had another late night last night, he hadn't left until CJ had called a full lid and gone home. Although he could have left earlier, Josh had felt guilty about leaving when he knew CJ and Sam were still working. He'd even managed to persuade Donna to stay late. They'd ended up sharing a beer and chatting while going over the paperwork State had sent over. He could think of worse ways to spend the evening. Most of them involved sitting in his apartment alone.

"Josh, are you listening?" Toby's voice broke into his reverie.

"No, we've been at this for almost half an hour and we're just going round in circles. The numbers are bad. We know that. They've been bad for a while. That's why we brought Bruno in. But until one of us come up with a brilliant idea to improve them, we should focus on actually, you know, governing."

Josh and Leo had discussed the President's growing frustration at the lack of progress the administration had made since the MS announcement. While they were also concerned about the polling numbers, they had agreed that if the American public could see something being done the numbers would rebound enough in time to really kick off the re-election campaign.

They needed to pass the SLP. That would improve the polling data. The only problem was, they needed higher public approval to get the SLP passed.

Hence Josh's frustration at not being able to get the funding for the SLP. He would normally have relished this sort of political maneuvering but it was such a small amount they needed for a program that had been proven to work. It shouldn't have been this difficult. Democrats should have been clamouring to approve the funding rather than having to be bullied into it. But they were looking at the same polling data as Josh and they didn't think the President's numbers were going to recover.

If they could just move the public's attention away from the Congressional investigation and back to the business of governing...

"We need to start thinking about the State of the Union." Josh stated, "The SLP will play well, but we need a broader theme to tie it into. We need to remind people what we're about and why they voted for him in the first place."

"I've got some pre-budget meetings coming up...Toby and I will start kicking around some ideas for themes next week." Sam said.

Toby nodded in agreement while looking disgusted at Sam's use of cliché.

"Okay, so now we just need to get the SLP approved." Josh said with a sigh as he noticed Donna walking down the corridor with Congressman Conroy. Sam and Toby noticed the direction of his eyes and stood to vacate the room as Donna and the Congressman entered.

The two groups exchanged greetings as they passed one another.

Toby paused and watched Josh shake the Congressman's hand. Sam walked down the corridor until he realised that Toby was no longer at his side. He quickly retraced his steps. They stood observing the meeting until Josh shot them an evil look.

"So, I talked to Ainsley about the congestion charge again today." Sam began as he followed Toby back to his office.

"She says it's a tax so it shouldn't have to be paid."

"You've found a Republican that's against paying tax?! Well colour me surprised! Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I think it's a toll not a tax,"

Toby stopped in his doorway and faced the other man, "What are you talking about?"

"The congestion charge in London. Our embassy staff refuse to pay it. They say it's a tax and their diplomatic status makes them exempt from it. But I think it's more like a toll...like the New Jersey Turnpike. The British Ambassador has to pay that, so why should our ambassadors be exempt?" Sam rambled on.

"If I ignore you, will you go away?" Toby asked, silently praying the answer was yes.

"Plus we pay similar charges in Oslo and Singapore." Sam said before taking the hint and turning toward his office. He smiled at the sound of a rubber ball hitting the glass partition just as he walked passed.

***

_Chief of Staff's Office_

_3.33 pm_

Margaret took the folder from Leo without acknowledging him. She added it to one of the many piles on her desk. Leo considered asking about her filing system but on realising he may actually get an answer, decided better of it. He hovered near her desk, trying to think of some other way to get her to talk to him.

"I only wanted to know if you saw it." Margaret said moodily.

Leo looked up guiltily.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you." He finally conceded.

"Donna told me it has a working elevator." She said, trying to wheedle some more information out of him.

"I honestly didn't get chance to see it." Leo was rescued from the rest of the conversation by CJ's arrival.

CJ shot Margaret a puzzled look over her shoulder as she and Leo entered his office.

"She's annoyed that I didn't see the dolls house, for some reason." Leo explained.

"Donna gets all the best gossip." Margaret explained to CJ, having followed them into the office.

Leo signed the papers she handed him and shook his head in disbelief as she waltzed out the room.

"You wanted to see me?" CJ asked once Margaret had closed the door.

"How did your meeting with Hoynes go?"

"Okay. I made it clear we won't tolerate that sort of...thing. I think he got the message."

"You think? We need to be sure, CJ."

"He got the main message, I'm just not sure he believed me when I said it wasn't going any further."

"Okay. We don't have time for this sort of thing now. We'll have to leave it at that until he gets back."

CJ turned to leave.

"Danny's back in town." Leo studied CJ, waiting for her to continue. "He reckons...He told me Hoynes was behind the latest Josh and Donna rumour."

"What rumour?" Leo asked, concerned.

"The usual one. I've shut it down, but I'm worried about the timing. Especially if Danny's right."

Leo sighed as he pondered the implications.

"If he's.....he may be trying to discredit Donna...." CJ speculated, "in case she decides to go public."

"Keep an eye on it. Anything else?"

"No. Thank you, Leo."

***

_Roosevelt Room_

_5.10 pm_

"Jonathan, it's good to see you." Josh greeted the Congressman.

"Josh. It's not often I get summoned to the White House."

"You've been here before, though haven't you?"

"Yeah, just not for a while."

"Well, it's good to see you anyway. Do you know why I wanted this meeting?"

"I saw Congresswoman Hark in the lobby. So I guess it's about that science program you've been touting."

"You don't sound very enthusiastic about it."

"I don't know much about it." The Congressman admitted, "But I don't think I can support it."

"Congressman..."

"No, Josh. I don't think you understand. I'm facing a tough challenge..."

"Congressman..."

"...in my district. I don't think coming out in support of one the President's pet projects is going to help."

"Jonathan, politics aside for a moment. Have you actually read the memo on the SLP?" Josh pushed a copy of Donna's summary toward him.

"I've studied it as closely as you've apparently studied the D-triple-C's latest polling data. Strong leader is at 46 percent, Josh."

Josh huffed, surprised at the Congressman's audacity.

"The President's numbers are going to go up, Congressman. They are going to go back up and if you don't support us now I can guaranty that we won't support you come re-election."

Congressman Lewis shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Josh decided to back off a little.

"Look, Jonathan, the SLP is an easy sell in any district. You're a Democrat, we're for better education. You have to vote for this. At the very least read the memo..."

"How many votes do you need?" Congressman Lewis interrupted.

"We need your's. That's the only issue here."

Lewis lent back in his chair nonchalantly. One hand tapped an irregular tattoo on the tabletop.

"I heard you needed eight votes." He revealed, attracting Josh's attention moments before he succumbed to the temptation to reach over and stop the irritating noise. "That's a lot of votes. You must be getting worried by now, the vote's two days away."

Josh raised his eyebrows, waiting for Lewis to get to his point.

"Would you care to sweeten the deal?"

"What do you want?" Josh hated having to barter for votes especially when it came to pork barrel spending.

"Whatcha got?" Lewis' grin disappeared when he saw Josh's distinctly unimpressed expression, "Can you at least assure me that some of the participating schools will be in my district?"

"I think it's up to the schools whether or not they participate, but I'll make some calls. So can I tell the President he has your vote?"

Congressman Lewis continued tapping on the table as he made his decision, further irritating Josh.

"Maybe, leave this with me and I'll take a look." The congressman took the memo from the table as he left the room.

Josh watched him go then slumped forward in his chair, elbows resting on his knees. He remained that way until Donna came to collect him for his next meeting.

***


	4. Thursday

**AN: **Here we go.....

Chapter 4 – Thursday

_The Residence_

_6.47 am_

The first strains of the early morning light glimpsed through the now open curtains in his bedroom. Jed allowed himself a moment of amusement as he pondered how long it had been since he had opened curtains himself and some of the other ways his life had changed since taking office. The waiting breakfast cart and morning newspapers just further evidence of his unorthodox lifestyle.

Jed picked up a piece of toast and the top newspaper from the pile. With Abbey away until this afternoon, he was free to skim the morning headlines without interruption. Abbey had a tendency to be quite chatty first thing and while he was more than happy to multitask during their conversations, Abbey had other thoughts on the subject. Today, though, her bubbly presence would have been welcomed. With the news of yet another high school shooting dominating the newspapers, Jed's belief in his fellow man had taken a hit in the last couple of days.

Pausing his perusal of the papers long enough to butter his toast he sighed loudly. Toast buttered, he dropped his copy of the _Post_ onto the floor and pulled _USA Today_ toward him and unfolded it. His eyes barely glanced at the picture of Harrison High School, Indianapolis located above the fold of the front page. He was just about to turn to the related opinion piece to see how the story was being spun when his eyes caught the headline located below the fold. Intrigued, he read further, eyes growing wider with each sentence.

"Charlie!"

***

_Press Secretary's Office_

_7.12 am_

CJ looked up at the gentle tapping on her door, seeing Carol she gestured to the website she was reading.

"Have you read this?" she asked. "They're using this as an argument to arm teachers! Teachers! Teachers with guns! Explain to me how on earth that would've helped!"

Carol regretted not having the computer know-how to infect CJ's computer with a virus or some other way to stop her being able to access the internet. Perhaps she should have had a word with Margaret this morning. Glancing at the paper in her hand, suddenly she wished arming teachers was her only problem.

"Have you looked at _USA Today_ yet?"

"No, I've been checking...." CJ tailed off as she read the headline under the fold. "He hasn't! He wouldn't!"

Carol looked grim as she nodded, "I think he would and he has."

"That jackass!" Carol managed not to flinch as CJ threw the paper across the room, "That slimy, puffed up, good for nothing jackass!"

She paused in her yelling and pacing as she noticed Carol quietly close the door and take a seat.

"He's saying SHE tried to seduce HIM! For his VOTE, no less! Can you believe this?" CJ collapsed into her chair.

"I've read it, I don't believe it and neither will anyone who knows Donna. Nor will any woman that's met him," Carol added the last part under her breath but CJ heard and looked up, sharing a wry, knowing smile with her assistant. Then something clicked.

"How did you know it was Donna? Is she mentioned?" CJ started scrabbling around the floor to retrieve the paper.

"No, her name's not mentioned and I don't think it's obvious who he's referring to, but it won't take the press long to find out."

CJ sighed, running through various media strategies in her head.

"How did you know?" she asked again.

"You met with Donna and Hoynes on Tuesday. I guessed." Carol added with a shrug.

"Okay, I've got senior staff in a minute. While I'm gone I need you to play reporter. Think of all the ways the press can find out who the 'senior aide' is and," CJ paused, rubbing her forehead, before standing to put on her jacket, "No, we can't cover this up," she muttered to herself.

"Let me be perfectly clear," CJ stood, looming over her assistant, "I am not asking you to cover anything up! I'm not asking you to hide or dispose of any evidence! Misfile maybe....No, I just need....I just need....a heads up for when they get her name. We'll come up with a strategy in staff."

"Don't worry CJ, I'm on it." Carol stood and retreated to her desk pleased to be doing something to help. CJ followed, on her way to senior staff.

"Start with Hoynes' schedule for Monday night," CJ said as she leaned back through the doorway.

"I'm on it, CJ!"

***

_Chief of Staff's Office_

_7.24 am_

"Hoynes orchestrated this?" Josh asked, with a hint of disbelief.

"Why would he?" Sam paced in front of Leo's desk as he searched for an answer.

"To make us look bad," Toby said quietly as he lent back in his chair.

"But what does he gain?" Sam turned to address the others.

"It makes us look bad," Toby had no doubt in his mind that was a good enough reason for Hoynes to do anything.

"Perhaps it's retribution for the healthcare thing," Josh postulated, not buying into Toby's assessment of the man. Hoynes wasn't that petty and was an experienced politician.

"That was weeks ago," Sam paused in his pacing.

"Still, he took a hit..." Josh pressed his case, not being one to back down easily.

Sam's pacing resumed as silence descended over the office again. Josh stared at the floor, his shoulders hunched as he perched on the edge of Leo's desk, deep in contemplation. Toby sat in a chair at the table fiddling with the pen in his hand as he stared into space. The three men were gathered waiting for Leo and CJ so they could begin the senior staff meeting. The _USA Today_ article had been the sole topic of conversation in the room since Toby had brought it to the other's attentions.

"Do we know if it's even true?" Sam asked the room in general.

"Why now?" Josh ignored Sam's question, in his experience the truth was irrelevant compared to politics and public perception when it came to sex scandals.

"Why not?" Toby frowned.

"No, think about it. Why leak this now? The shooting is still dominating the news cycle. Why leak it now when it could get buried?" Josh took the opportunity of Sam standing in the doorway to make his way over to the couch.

"What's on the table?" Sam's thought process was jarred back into political mode as he realised where Josh was heading with this.

"The SLP. I asked him....If he wanted out....It doesn't make....." Josh failed to complete a sentence as he dismissed the idea while running through past conversations he'd had with Hoynes on the subject.

"It's pre-emptive. Something is forcing his hand." Toby stated.

"Yeah, but what?" Sam stopped his pacing in favour of leaning on the back of one on the visitor chairs.

Silence descended once again. Each of the men's thoughts spinning in directions known only to themselves.

"Do we know for sure he's behind this?" Sam's voice broke through the quiet and covered the sound of Leo's entry into the outer office, "I'm not saying it didn't come from him, just that...Maybe one of his staff got over zealous?"

"Leo, where's CJ? Where's CJ when we need her?" Toby asked as soon as he saw Leo in the doorway.

"Maybe it's the Republicans. Maybe its a smear campaign. I'm just saying do we even know if it's true?" Sam continued seeking alternative explanations before returning to what he believed to be the most salient point.

"It's not the Republicans, Sam." Leo said with a weary sigh.

"Where the hell is CJ?" Toby yelled as he surged to his feet, frustrated with the situation, Sam's lack of acceptance of it and Leo ignoring his perfectly valid question from moments ago.

"Right here, Snuggles, keep your pants on!" CJ replied as she came in through the door from the corridor.

"Where the hell have you been! Why didn't we know about this! Every time we start making progress, every time we start to get something done, we get blind sided with something like this! And it takes us months to recover! Months where we could be doing something! I don't expect plain sailing all the time but if we knew where and when the storm was going to hit we could at least plan for it. Then maybe, just maybe it would only take weeks to recover. So I ask again. Why didn't we know about this?"

"That's enough, Toby! CJ and I knew about this, we thought we'd dealt with it." Leo said as he gestured toward CJ who was leaning against the door frame.

"So, it's true then." Sam sunk into the chair he'd been leaning on.

"You knew! You dealt with it! How long did you know? How big a cover up are we involved with this time?" Toby gesticulated wildly, anger and exasperation dominating his mind and colouring his actions.

"Please God, Leo, tell me you didn't sign off on this!" Josh asked quietly, joining the conversation for the first time since Leo entered the room.

"CJ was approached Tuesday morning by a member of...." Leo began to explain.

"Who?" Toby asked quietly which somehow made his anger more apparent, "Tell me who, Leo, and I swear to God they will be out of this building...."

"It was Donna." Josh stated.

Silence.

"CJ? It was Donna, wasn't it? She came to see you, didn't she? I sent her to Hoynes' office Monday night. Oh my God, they're talking about Donna...." Josh started rambling as bits of seemingly irrelevant information fell into place with the new information that Leo had revealed.

"Josh, she came to see me to tell me...." CJ tried to placate him but was interrupted by the door behind her slamming into the wall making everyone jump.

"Will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on in this building?" The President's voice rang out in the room. Josh and Sam scrabbled to their feet. "This is no way to run a government! Trading sex for votes! Just what sort of show are we running here? CJ! Is there any truth in this? Where do they get their sources? Well CJ, I'm waiting!" The President fixed CJ with an angry glare.

"Well, sir, we were just discussing how to handle this..." CJ tried to prevaricate.

"Handle this! Handle this! I'll tell you how we are going to handle this! We are going to find out who this 'senior aide' is and we're going to fire them!" The President yelled, throwing his copy of _USA Today_ onto the table next to Josh making him flinch slightly.

"Yes, sir, but..." CJ tried again to calm the President.

"Find them and fire them, CJ! Do I make myself clear? Whoever this woman is, I want her out the building! Now!" The President stated calmly and clearly, leaving no one with any doubt that he was serious and seriously pissed.

"Yes sir." CJ responded, having no other choice.

The President nodded at her once and swept the room with his gaze before returning to the Oval Office with a purposeful stride.

The sound of the door clicking shut echoed in the ears of everyone in Leo's office. The silence caused by the President's brief visit and abrupt exit stretched on. CJ lent against the door frame, her head back and eyes closed as she considered her morning so far and wished she had stayed in bed. Toby shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, hand clenched around the pen he was furiously clicking on and off. Sam stared in disbelief at the door to the Oval Office for a while before moving his gaze to his long time friend. Josh was standing motionless staring at the floor as he had been since the president had made his wishes clear. Sam couldn't see his expression and the lack of motion was making it near impossible for him to get a read on his friend's mood. Sam looked to Leo in the hope that the older man would know what was going on his mind. Leo was watching Josh closely but was no more able to read him than Sam.

"Leo, you can't honestly believe that Donna would do something like this, can you?" Josh suddenly exploded into motion, spinning to face Leo.

"No, which is why we're gonna need a plan B," Leo said and received a grin from Josh.

"Plan B?" Toby questioned.

"We could just sit tight and hope it goes away," Sam suggested, "Nope, didn't think so. Just out of interest, what was plan A?" Sam's mood had been buoyed slightly by Josh's outburst, quiet stillness from Josh was a cause for concern.

"Pretty much that," Leo, apparently, was also reassured by Josh's response.

"The President gave me a direct order, Leo. I can't ignore that." CJ didn't like bringing the mood down just as it was beginning to lift but couldn't see what other choice she had.

"You can't fire Donna!" Josh exclaimed, a hint of panic creeping into his voice.

"Ummm.....That's exactly what I've just been told to do, Josh!" CJ faced him and drew herself up to her full height.

"CJ, you don't believe Donna would..." Josh was astonished that CJ could even think that.

"I know she didn't, Josh! Do you honestly think I would.....Especially after......But he gave me a direct order. The President told me to fire her, Josh!" CJ argued, her voice raising toward the end.

"Okay, this is what we're going to do. We're not going to fire Donna...." Leo took charge, preventing an escalation in tempers and volume.

"We're going to ignore a direct order?" Sam broke in, surprised.

"All I heard him say was that he wanted her out the building. Did anyone hear anything different? No? So, that's exactly what we'll do and no more than that. Send her home, CJ." Leo explained.

"So we're just gonna keep her out of the building until when, Leo?" Sam was still struggling to believe Leo.

"Until he calms down enough to listen to reason." Leo responded calmly.

"Are _you_ okay with this?" Sam turned to Toby as a source of reason.

"It's Donna." Toby shrugged. Sam stared at him while he processed his words. He finally nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, guys." Josh's relief at his friend's responses and support was evident.

"Right that's it for now, go do some work." Leo dismissed everyone.

"Thank you, Leo." Toby and Sam parroted as they left the room.

"How long's it gonna take for him to calm down, Leo?" Josh had remained behind wanting further reassurance.

"It'll take as long as it takes."

"Okay. Thank you, Leo." Josh left, leaving Leo sorting through the papers on his desk.

"And how long do you think the calm will last once either of them gets hold of Donna's version of events?" CJ asked once Josh was out of earshot. Leo looked up at her and they shared a look of trepidation before CJ returned to her office.

***

_Operations Bullpen_

_7.44 am_

Josh strode into the operations bullpen with a file containing the paperwork Donna had handed to him before senior staff and another with a copy of the _USA Today_ article that Toby had passed out when he got there. One folder he'd barely glanced at while the other he'd studied rather more intently. Despite having read the article twice, he still couldn't believe it was Donna they were referring to. His Donna. And where was she? CJ couldn't have sent her home already, she'd still been in Leo's office when he'd left. He scribbled a quick note for Donna and left it on her desk then headed into his office. He closed both doors before collapsing into his chair with enough force to set it spinning. Josh lent back and rubbed his eyes with the heals of his hands. His mind was running over his conversation with Donna from Monday night. What exactly had he said to her? He'd asked her to take the file over to the VP's office. Had he hinted to her that he wanted her to....No! He was sure he'd never even insinuated anything of the sort. Why would he?

His mind travelled back further, to the campaign. He searched his memory for any interaction between Donna and then-Senator Hoynes and came up blank. He couldn't think of a single look, comment or instance that he could call inappropriate. Donna, to the best of his knowledge, had never expressed any interest in John Hoynes. And he was generally quite well informed when it came to Donna's love life contrary to his loud protestations that he didn't care who she was seeing at any given moment.

His mind jumped from Hoynes' motivation to wider political implications to media strategies and back again. All of which were interspersed with fragments of conversations with Donna, about Donna, CJ's voice from this morning....

"_She came to see me to tell me...."_

"_I know she didn't, Josh!"_

"_Especially after...."_

So, she'd gone to see CJ and told her her side of the story. But why hadn't she come to see him? A dark suspicion was forming in the back his mind. Hints and whispers from when he worked for Hoynes. Sidelong glances in meetings he had ignored, rumours he had taken care not to hear.

"_Especially after...."_

Especially after what? Just what had happened that night? CJ obviously knew. What could Donna tell CJ but not him? The implications of that sent chills through his body and made his blood boil at the same time.

A knock at the door startled him out of his increasingly disturbing train of thought.

"Yeah."

"You wanted to see me?" Donna waved a message slip at him.

"Donna, yes. Come in, sit down and close the door."

"In that order?" Her grin was met by a blank stare and faded quickly. "What's up?"

"Have you seen CJ today?" Josh kept his eyes down as he shuffled the folders on his desk although, for once, he knew exactly which folder he wanted.

"No, not yet."

He passed her the folder Toby had given him earlier and motioned for her to read it. He watched as Donna's eyes flicked back and forth across the page, hoping to glean as much information as possible from her expression.

Donna reached the bottom of the page, disbelief plainly evident on her face, then flipped the page over, as if expecting an explanation or something to suggest this was a joke.

"But, I don't understand. Who would....?"

"They're talking about you, Donna."

"Me? But I didn't....I would never....I've only really spoken to the VP once." She closed her eyes as understanding dawned. "Oh!" Her eyes sprung open an instant later, pinning him with a fierce glare, "Josh, you don't believe this, do you?"

"Of course not! And nor does the rest of the senior staff. Why didn't you come to me Donna? Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were gone when I got back. I went to CJ the next morning and she said she'd deal with it. I thought she had." Donna looked down sheepishly and stared at her hands folded on top of the offending news article. "How bad is it?"

"Bad."

She nodded, resigned.

"Donna, I need you to go home. You can't be seen in the building until this is sorted out."

"But I haven't done anything..."

"I know, but the President's pretty pissed. He ordered CJ to find out who they were referring to and fire her."

Donna gasped quietly and Josh noticed her eyes begin to well with tears.

"CJ wasn't able to...." Josh paused for breath as his earlier thoughts flooded his mind, "...to fully brief the President on the situation."

His voice nearly broke on the words 'fully brief'. He looked down at his desk and rested his head in his hands a moment, letting his imagination run riot, wondering just what CJ would have said given the chance. Forcing himself to look up he met her level gaze.

"It won't take long for the press to find out it was you with Hoynes that night." Josh grimaced at his poor choice of words before plastering on what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "It'll just be a couple of days, I promise. I'm sure once the President knows all the facts...." he trailed off.

"It's okay, Josh. I don't want to cause any fuss or embarrassment for the President. I'll just go pack my desk."

"No! Don't pack! You'll be coming back. Just go home for now. I'll let you know when we've got this sorted out."

Donna nodded and left the office.

***

_Communications Bullpen_

_10.30 am_

"Listen, I've been thinking." Sam said as he entered Toby's office and closed the door.

As the door closed and Sam's voice could no longer be heard in the outer office the conversation between the assistants resumed.

"Are you sure?" Ginger asked as she lent across her desk to whisper to Bonnie.

Bonnie glanced around before answering, "Her desk is empty...."

"_Empty _empty?"

"Her coat and bag are gone," came the whispered response.

"Maybe she gone over to the OEOB..." Ginger ended abruptly as the door opened. Both assistants struggled to find something to occupy them before Sam or Toby noticed the lull in activity. They watched surreptitiously as Sam returned to his office. Toby stood in his doorway lost in thought, unaware his presence was interrupting Bonnie and Ginger's conversation much to their frustration. Sam emerged from his office one again, reading statistics from the folder in his hand to Toby.

"Umm...I'm just going to drop this off for Margaret." Ginger announced loudly standing up and grabbing an empty folder. She looked over at Bonnie as she said it and received a grin and nod of approval. They needn't have bothered with the subterfuge as neither Sam nor Toby noticed as she left the bullpen.

"Sam, you have a prelim budget meeting for the State of the Union in 10 minutes." Bonnie called across the room and got a vague hand wave in response . She sighed quietly and returned to the pile of paperwork on her desk, actually taking note of what was in front of her this time.

Time passed slowly for Bonnie as she waited for Ginger to return with up-to-date information from Margaret. She tried to concentrate on her work but the discussion between Sam and Toby was getting louder and more distracting as the minutes passed.

Ginger paused in the corridor when she saw Sam and Toby were still in the bullpen. She moved to where she could catch Bonnie's eye without being seen by their bosses. Bonnie soon noticed Ginger loitering in the corridor and went to join her.

"You were right, she's gone. Margaret reckons she's been fired." Ginger relayed, still keeping an eye on the two men that had just disappeared into Sam's office.

"Fired?" Bonnie's disbelief was evident. Their original idea of Donna having the day off suddenly seemed almost plausible when confronted with this new information.

"She said it was to do with the thing in _USA Today_..." Ginger was watching the comings and goings in the corridor anxiously and fell silent as she saw Leo approach.

Bonnie spotted the direction of her friend's gaze and waited until he was out of earshot before asking, "The thing with Hoynes?" Even as she asked the question it seemed ludicrous.

Ginger nodded, just as shocked now as when Margaret had told her. The two women locked eyes with each other, understanding passing between them.

"If they're gonna start firing any woman that's...." Bonnie began slowly.

"There won't be any assistants left." Ginger agreed before Bonnie could voice what they both knew.

***

_Press Secretary's Office_

_11 am_

"Carol," CJ called into the outer office.

"Carol?" Louder this time.

"Yeah?"

CJ stuck her head out of the door, "Can you get me some time with Leo?"

"Sure thing, Boss."

CJ returned to her desk and read through the messages she'd been ignoring all morning while she waited. She made a significant dent in the pile before she realised that Carol hadn't got back to her.

"Carol?"

"Yeah..." came the disembodied voice.

"Is Leo free?"

"Don't know, there's no answer." Carol looked up from the phone to see CJ staring at her. "I'll go see Margaret."

"You do that."

Carol left, slightly concerned. Margaret never left her desk without ensuring the phones were covered. Carol crossed the lobby, heading for Margaret's office when she spotted the woman in question talking to Bonnie and Ginger. She changed direction to join them.

As she approached, she heard Donna's name and saw the worried expressions.

No need to ask what that was about.

"Carol, did you hear? We think Donna's the senior aide."

"Yeah," Carol said defeated.

"Tell us what you know and we'll tell you our plan..." Ginger said with a sly smile.

***

_Press Briefing Room and Adjacent Corridor_

_12.20 pm_

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Danny greeted Steve and Chris where they stood in the doorway to the press room.

"We're just discussing Tony's article. Did you hear anything?" Steve knew Danny managed to hear more gossip than the rest of them.

"First I heard was when I got in this morning and someone warned me CJ was on the war path. Have you seen her yet?"

Steve shook his head, "She had Simon do the gaggle, but now they're all holed up somewhere."

"Do you think it's true?" Chris asked the new arrival.

"Don't know. Who's Tony's source?" Danny queried.

"He won't say. But I think it's probably Natalie. She's high enough up but didn't go to Vancouver. Natalie fits."

"Hmm..." Danny started putting together bits of gossip and rumour he'd heard since he'd been back in Washington, "Do we know who the senior aide is?"

"No, but I did hear the President wants her fired!" Steve revealed.

"Where from?"

"Really?"

Danny and Chris spoke at once and Danny asked, "On the record?"

"No, I overheard Sam and Toby in the corridor." Steve admitted.

"Did they mention a name? Do they even _know_ a name?" Chris was relentless in her pursuit of the story.

"Does Tony even have a name? He must have. You can't print that sort of accusation without checking. This could destroy the President. Especially on the heals of the MS thing." Danny mused out loud.

"Only if it's true," Chris added, dryly.

Steve indicated for the group to hush and pointed toward Carol loitering in the press room.

She looked around nervously at the few reporters at work in the room. When she spotted the group in the doorway she visibly relaxed and made a beeline for them. The sight of Carol in the briefing room would have been perfectly normal on any other day but the press secretary and her staff had been noticeably absent all morning. And now here was Carol looking edgy. Danny was beginning to wonder exactly what was going on.

"Hey, Carol. How's it going?" Danny asked causally.

"Any idea who the senior aide is?" Chris was less willing to beat about the bush.

"I can't comment on that." Carol told them.

"But you do know." Chris pressed on, as Carol led the group further into the corridor so they wouldn't be overheard by the reporters in the room. Danny and Steve exchanged a surprised look.

"So it's true then?" Danny asked in a low voice.

Carol shook her head, "Have you tried to call any of the senior staff in the last hour?"

The three reporters looked at each other, obviously puzzled.

"Perhaps you should," was all Carol said before disappearing down the corridor.

Steve was the first to recover his composure and gather his wits enough to pull out his cell phone and dial the White House switchboard. The others listened as he asked to be put through to Leo's office.

There was along silence before Steve said, "Okay, thank you." He turned back to the others and said, "There's no answer."

As one, Danny and Chris grabbed their phones and dialled.

"Can I speak to Sam Seaborne, please?" Danny heard Chris ask as he asked to be connected to Josh's office.

While they waited Steve tried to get through to Leo again. He shook his head to indicate there was still no answer as the others hung up having, likewise, failed to get a response.

"What the hell is going on here? And why would Carol tip us off about whatever it is?" Danny inquired.

Chris lent against the wall, thinking.

"Are the assistants on strike?" She suggested, unable to think of another reason the phones would be allowed to go unanswered.

"Why would they do that? They'll get fired." Steve countered in disbelief.

"Unless it's in support of someone that's about to get fired." Danny speculated.

"So, the senior aide is actually a senior assistant." Chris joined the dots. "Why don't I buy that? None of the assistants would do that, they're not that stupid!" she concluded.

The three journalists had good relationships with the assistants, both professionally and personally. They spent as much time on the phone with them as with their bosses and while the assistants were fairly close-lipped when it came to gossip, they were often used as filters for any stories the White House wanted to leak.

"Well, it's not Carol. She's still got a job." Steve said breaking the contemplative silence.

Danny chuckled, "That's one down, perhaps we should just wonder round until we work out who's missing."

Danny's phone started to ring. He looked at the caller ID but didn't recognise the number.

"Hello?"

Once he identified the voice on the other end, he started looking round for somewhere private to continue the conversation. Steve realised what he was after and ushered him into the conveniently empty room opposite. Chris followed and closed the door behind them.

"Calm down, Donna." Danny reassured, "Tell me again what the problem is."

"_I can't get hold of anyone!" _Chris could just make out what Donna was saying on the other end of the line.

"_Josh has a lunch now, but I can't find anyone to remind him. He can't miss it, Danny. And I couldn't think of who else to call. Where is everyone? What's going on?"_

"Donna, it's okay. Where are you?"

"_I'm at home."_

"Are you okay?"

"_Yes. I will be if I could just make sure Josh makes his meeting. And has the right file. Oh no! I left the file on my desk." _Danny could hear that she was on the verge of tears.

"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it."

"_Thank you, Danny."_

Danny hung up and looked at the two others in the room who had been hanging on every word of both sides of the conversation.

"Well that answers that question."

***

_Operations Bullpen_

_12.40 pm_

"Donna!"

Josh's yell could be easily heard in the bullpen along with the sound of papers being shuffled and/or dropped. Danny couldn't help but smile. He poked his head into Josh's office.

"You okay there?" Danny asked as another stack of paperwork fell to the floor, dislodged as Josh tried to find what he was looking for.

"Danny, how you doing? Donna!"

"You know she's not out there, right?"

Josh stopped his frantic searching.

"Oh. Yeah. I forgot." The searching resumed.

"You have a lunch now, don't you?"

"Yeah, I managed to decipher Donna's crazy schedule. She left a decoder ring for today but tomorrow is a mystery. And I need..."

Josh's frustration finally got the better of him and he threw one of the top folders across the room. He watched the papers float to the floor.

"How am I supposed to work like this?" He asked plaintively.

"This what you're after?" Danny held out the folder from Donna's desk. Josh looked at it like it was about to bite him.

"Maybe." He admitted grudgingly.

He took the folder, trying to work out how and why Danny had it.

"She called me."

"How was she? How'd she sound?"

"Okay...a little upset. Has she really been fired?"

Josh didn't reply.

"She wouldn't do that, Josh."

"I know."

"But something happened?"

"Yeah."

***


	5. Friday

**AN:** Okay, let's try this again. Sorry about any confusion with me posting this chapter twice. I wasn't entirely happy with the ending then I received a very helpful review from Angelnot so I've added an extra scene which hopefully improves it somewhat. I'm still not entirely happy so any other suggestions would be gratefully received.

**Previously on The West Wing, Rainy Day Friends:**

"_How many votes do you need?" Congressman Lewis interrupted._

"_We need yours. That's the only issue here."_

_Lewis lent back in his chair nonchalantly. One hand tapped an irregular tattoo on the tabletop. _

"_I heard you needed eight votes." He revealed, moments before Josh succumbed to the temptation to reach over and stop the irritating noise. "That's a lot of votes. You must be getting worried by now, the vote's two days away." _

_Josh raised his eyebrows, waiting for Lewis to get to his point._

"_Would you care to sweeten the deal?"_

"_What do you want?" Josh hated having to barter for votes especially when it came to pork barrel spending._

"_Whatcha got?"_

***

"_Will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on in this building?" The President's voice rang out in the room. Josh and Sam scrabbled to their feet. "This is no way to run a government! Trading sex for votes! Just what sort of show are we running here?"_

"_Well, sir, we were just discussing how to handle this..." CJ tried to prevaricate._

"_Find them and fire them, CJ! Do I make myself clear? Whoever this woman is I want her out the building! Now!" The President stated calmly and clearly, leaving no one with any doubt that he was serious and seriously pissed._

***

_Carol shook her head, "Have you tried to call any of the senior staff in the last hour?"_

_The three reporters looked at each other, obviously puzzled._

"_Perhaps you should,"_

_As one, Danny and Chris grabbed their phones and dialled. While they waited Steve tried to get through to Leo again. He shook his head to indicate there was still no answer as the others hung up having, likewise, failed to get a response._

"_Are the assistants on strike?"_

***

Chapter 5 – Friday

_Press Secretary's Office_

_9 am_

Carol loitered in the doorway to CJ's office as she listened to CJ wrap up the morning press gaggle. As the reporters started to file out of the room Carol held Steve and Chris back. Danny loitered in CJ's office of his own accord.

"I wanted to thank you for your articles this morning. It hasn't gone unnoticed." CJ informed the three journalists.

"My editor certainly noticed. He was less than pleased." Chris told the Press Secretary.

"I understand and I know that the three of you also know who the 'senior aide' is. I just wanted to thank you for not printing her name. The President won't forget this."

"That's not exactly a searing indictment at the moment." Steve gently reminded CJ of the President's feelings on the subject.

"We're working on that."

"He honestly thinks Donna would be capable of something like that?"

CJ looked at Chris, pondering exactly how much to reveal. She figured she owed them something. "He doesn't know it was Donna."

"How could he not know?"

"He was too angry to listen yesterday and no one's been brave enough to bring the subject up today." CJ admitted, ashamed of the senior staff's cowardice when it came to their friend's job and reputation.

"I see Carol's back at her desk today." Danny changed the subject.

"Physically at least."

"So they're still on strike then?"

"Any chance of an on-the-record comment about the strike?"

CJ shook her head. She owed them, but not enough to officially confirm the strike was taking place and comment on it.

CJ's phone began to ring. She answered it, having recognised Donna's number on the caller ID screen.

"Hi, Donna." The reporters lapsed into silence to listen.

"Yeah, okay." CJ scribbled something down on a notepad, "M'hmm...yeah....yeah...okay. Got it. But I don't know who I'm gonna get...."

She fell silent as Donna said something.

"No, they're just doing the absolute minimum." CJ confirmed, "I don't think any of us realised the lengths you guys go to for us on a daily basis. I've certainly taken the extra things Carol does for granted."

Donna spoke again.

"I know, but I'm looking forward to getting you back. Not just 'coz of that but Josh is going crazy."

CJ smiled in response to whatever Donna said.

"Yeah, I'll do what I can. Get back here soon." With that CJ hung up and looked at the others in the room.

"Is she okay?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, she's given me a list of things for Josh." CJ told them.

"He must be busy, with the SLP vote today." Danny surmised.

"Yeah, it's really bad timing for Donna to be away. She's the only one capable of staffing him on days like this."

"Give me the list." Danny said, surprising everyone.

"Huh?"

"I'll take care of it."

"Yeah, like I'm going to let you loose in the West Wing..."

"You forget, I'm on vacation. Plus, Donna called me yesterday to ask me to make sure Josh got to his meeting on time. She obviously trusts me."

"Or she was desperate." CJ pointed out.

Danny shrugged in acknowledgment of that possibility. CJ stared at him some more, trying to get a read on him.

"Anything you see and hear is off the record!" She told him as she handed the top sheet of her notepad to him.

Danny took the offered page and strolled out of her office towards Josh's end of the bullpen.

Steve and Chris grinned at each other, neither relishing the thought of staffing Josh for the day despite the potential for an exclusive.

"Thank you again guys. If you need anything..." CJ dismissed the two remaining reporters.

Steve left the office, already planning how to make the most of having CJ owe him a favour. Chris stayed behind.

"You know that Donna spent an hour and a half in the Oval Monday night. Right after she left the VP's office. Don't you?"

CJ stared at Chris as she processed the implications of that information.

"It looks bad, CJ."

"Are you going to file it?"

"I don't want to, but I'm going to have to if you don't get this cleared up soon. My editor's pretty pissed at me. I can't hold him off forever."

***

_Operations Bullpen_

_9.43 am_

"Someone!?! Anyone?!?"

Josh stood in the bullpen, hands on hips. The other occupants of the area avoided eye contact with the irate man, trying to escape his notice.

"It's a simple enough question people! Is the Vice President back yet?"

Danny entered the bullpen just in time to hear Josh's question, unlike those in the room who had just developed a bad case of selective hearing.

"Josh," Danny called to gain the other man's attention. He ushered him into the office.

"The VP's not back 'til early this afternoon."

"What? He's supposed to be back by now!"

"He added another stop-off in Vancouver. Air Force Two is due to land at one thirty."

"Damn him! He's supposed to meet with Cryer. How do you know all this anyway?"

"I'm a reporter, I have avenues available to me that others don't." Danny explained, "We basically have a clock counting down to his arrival in the press room."

Josh chuckled, "He's not stupid. He knows the press are going to be all over him as soon as he sets foot in Washington. But I need him to meet with Cryer. I need to call him. But first I need to arrange another meeting with Lewis."

"I'll do that, you call the VP. I doubt my call would get very far." Danny said with a smile.

"You could pretend you were Donna." Josh joked before realising the double meaning t his words.

"With a heavy cold perhaps?" Danny suggested as he left to place a call to Congressman Lewis' office.

***

_Oval Office_

_10.12 am_

Leo entered the Oval Office via the connecting door. President Bartlet was sat in his favourite chair only half listening to the discussion going on around him. He looked up as Leo entered. The head of the Committee for Secondary Education began wrapping up forcing the President to focus on what was being said. Bartlet shook the committee members hands as they left the room.

"Weren't you supposed to be in that meeting with me?" The President asked Leo.

"I had a scheduling conflict." Leo told him.

"Margaret double booked you?"

"No, sir, it was my mistake."

"I thought she didn't let you book your own meetings. Probably for this reason."

"She doesn't, but..."

"Is there something going on with the assistants?"

"No, sir."

"It's just Sam mentioned something earlier. I thought maybe something was going on."

"I'd rather you didn't have any part of it, Mr. President."

Bartlet peered at him over his glasses before deciding to take Leo's advice and drop the subject, "Okay. What's happening about the _USA Today_ article?"

"We're trying to..."

"Do we know who the aide is yet?"

"Sir, I don't think..."

"Damn it, Leo!" Bartlet threw his paperwork down onto the desk, his voice rising in volume. "Why won't you tell me who it is?"

Before Leo could answer, they were interrupted by Charlie's knock on the door to inform the President of his next meeting. Leo threw Charlie a grateful look and received a small grin in reply.

***

_Press Briefing Room_

_Noon_

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen."

The press quieten as CJ took the podium.

"I have a policy announcement regarding the London congestion charge...."

Toby stood at the back of the room and watched as several of the serious political reporters half-heartedly made notes on what CJ was saying. The rest of the room feigned interest, waiting for an opportunity to ask questions.

"...And as you know, the vote on the SLP is scheduled to begin shortly. Okay, I'll take some questions now."

"CJ! Can you tell us who the senior aide is that Hoynes is referring to?"

"No, Julie. I can't."

"Why can't you tell us, CJ?"

"CJ! Can you tell us when the incident occurred?"

"I haven't discussed this with the Vice President so I have no new information since yesterday, folks."

"CJ! Can you comment on the rumour that the President has ordered that the aide be fired?"

"I can't comment on that."

"CJ? What does the Vice President think of the President's response?"

"Guys, I am not Vice President Hoynes, as I'm sure you've noticed, nor am I telepathic. I have no idea what the Vice President thinks about any of this." CJ picked up her briefing book, ready to leave.

"CJ! What do _you_ think?"

The room stilled, wanting to hear her opinion. CJ looked at Toby before answering. He nodded slightly.

"I think....I think if the events occurred as reported in yesterday's USA Today, the President would be justified in wanting the aide fired. However until all sides of the story have been examined I really can't comment." With that CJ left the briefing room.

***

_Deputy Chief of Staff's Office_

_1.30 pm_

"What _have_ you been up to, Joshua?"

Abbey Bartlet's voice cut through the noise of the bullpen. Josh spun round in his chair to see the First Lady leaning against the door frame.

"Mrs. B." Josh acknowledged flatly.

"I've just been dragged out of lunch with Mrs. Hardcastle, who is an insufferable bore by the way, to tend the Deputy Chief of Staff's potentially broken hand. So I ask again, what have you been up to?"

"I punched Congressman Lewis."

"Oh, Joshua, Joshua."

She walked into the office and pushed the door mostly closed. She gestured for his hand and he held it out for her. Josh winced as she poked and prodded his hand to determine the extent of the damage.

"You'll live. Now, are you going to tell me what happened?"

Josh shrugged like a sulky teenager. Abbey shifted a stack of folders and sat on the desk. Leo had told her about Josh loosing his temper which, while not unheard of, normally resulted in him trading verbal blows not physical ones.

"I can sit here until you tell me or I can go back to Mrs. Hardcastle. This at least, has the potential to be interesting but there's no food here. It's a tough call...."

"He came in to talk about the SLP again. He made some crack about the pork barrel and 'alternative incentives'....and I just snapped." Josh explained.

"Now, why would you do that?"

"'Cause he's a jackass!"

"Well, I can't argue with that. I can't tell you how ridiculous he looked trying to peer down my dress at that DCCC fund raiser a couple of months back. He's what four foot six?"

Josh grinned at the image of Congressman Lewis standing on tiptoes to get a good look at the First Lady's cleavage. Abbey smiled in remembrance of Jed's jealousy and the events that followed later that evening.

"The President will probably give you an award." Abbey mused.

"Maybe I'll be awarded the Order of the Garter." Josh joked.

"Huh?"

"It's just something Donna's been going on about..." Josh's good mood faded.

"Where is Donna anyway? I haven't seen her...In fact I haven't seen Margaret today either. Where are they?"

Abbey suddenly faced a wall of silence.

"What's going on?"

Josh said nothing. Abbey regarded him contemplatively.

"Hmm...You won't tell Leo why you hit the Congressman and now you won't tell me where Donna is. Are the two related, I wonder?"

Josh's face and body language betrayed him.

Abbey sat and regarded Josh for a long while. Her politically experienced mind adding up all she had heard since she returned the previous afternoon.

"And suddenly the 'alternative incentives' comment makes sense." Abbey said slowly as she stood up to leave, "Well, Joshua, I hope you'd defend my honour with the same vigour. Although perhaps not with the same hand, that one needs to be rested for a while. Go home and put some ice on it. My orders."

***

_Outer Oval Office/Oval Office_

_2 pm_

"Hey, Charlie! How's it going?"

"Hi, Danny. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just dropping this off for Josh."

"I heard you were filling in for Donna. How's that going?"

"You know, I've been friends with Josh for a very long time. I'm probably able to tolerate him more than most, but I now have a new respect for Donna."

"He's a good guy." Charlie said quietly.

"That he is. And he can throw a punch."

"We needed Lewis's vote."

"You'll get it and every other vote Josh asks for. Lewis is too chicken shit to ever vote against the President again."

"I hope you're right."

"Say, why aren't you supporting the assistants?"

"Can't." Charlie shrugged, "I...." He started to explain but failed to come up a reason that wouldn't sound lame.

"I'm sure Donna would understand. Your loyalty is to the President. She knows about loyalty."

"Yeah. Still..."

"But you still want to do something to help..." Danny applied his journalistic skill, leading the conversation in the direction he wanted.

"Yeah."

"You know what would help? You could let me in there for a few minutes," Danny nodded toward the Oval Office as he spoke.

Charlie looked torn.

As much as he wanted to help Donna, he couldn't let just anyone into the Oval Office. He pulled the President's schedule toward him. He shook his head, the conflict between professional responsibility and loyalty to his friend taking a back seat as he read. He couldn't let Danny into the room when the National Security Advisor was in there.

He was off the hook.

Just then fate intervened and the door opened as Nancy McNally exited with a nod to both the men in the outer office. Charlie watched her leave before returning his eyes to Danny.

He nodded once.

Danny didn't need to be told twice and disappeared into the adjoining room.

"Mr. President?" He called gently causing the President to look up from his reading.

"Mr. Concanon. I don't remember seeing your name on my schedule."

"No, sir. I just kind of snuck in. Do you have a minute?"

"Probably not," the President moved his current stack of paperwork aside and pulled another toward him. "Charlie!"

"I wanted to talk to you about yesterday's article, Mr. President." Danny looked round, expecting to find Charlie ready to escort him out but instead saw him at his desk looking undecided. He was going to have to hurry.

"I'm sure you do," the President sounded mighty pissed. Danny wasn't sure if it was because of the interruption or the article itself.

"Sir, I was wondering if..."

"Danny, you know I'm not going to comment."

"Yes, sir, but..."

"Charlie!" The President called again.

Danny walked over to the door and indicated to Charlie to give him a couple more minutes before closing the door and standing guard in front of it.

The President looked surprised, "Danny what's going on?"

"Sir, I'm a reporter. It's my job to report the truth." The President huffed at that comment but Danny ploughed on, "But today, rather than printing my findings I'm here to report directly to you!"

Seeing he had the President's complete attention, he took a deep breath and carried on before the Secret Service were alerted to his unauthorised presence in the Oval Office.

"Mr. President, I know your staff has been reluctant to tell you who the 'senior aide' is,"

"Do you know who it is?" the President's anger began to show as his voice rose, "Can you tell me who it is?"

Danny decided it was time somebody bit the bullet.

"Yes, sir. It was Donna Moss."

The President froze. His anger quickly drained away only to be replaced by confusion.

"Donna?"

"Yes, sir."

"Donna Moss?" Jed's disbelief was evident.

Danny nodded, happy to wait for the information to sink in.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir."

Jed stood and moved to the door gesturing for Danny to step aside. He opened it and told Charlie to make sure he wasn't interrupted for a few minutes. He motioned for Danny to take a seat.

"You have some explaining to do, Daniel."

***

_Press Briefing Room_

_7 pm_

Donna stood at the back of the briefing room, Josh next to her. They watched as CJ took the podium.

"Okay, I have a couple of announcements," CJ began, "We are pleased to inform you that, a little while ago, Congress approved funding for the expansion of the Scientific Literacy Program. As you know this program aims at..."

"I can't believe Margaret and Carol and the others went on strike for me!" Donna commented, distracting Josh's attention away from the briefing and his triumph.

"I punched Congressman Lewis." Josh boasted, exceptionally pleased with himself.

"He did at that!" Sam confirmed as he joined them.

"For me?" Donna asked, fluttering her eyelids at Josh and pretending to swoon.

"Well, he was getting on my nerves. But the other reason too." Josh added the last part quietly. Donna beamed at him causing Sam to feel like he was intruding. He turned his attention back to CJ.

"...looking at the extradition treaty between Britain and the US. Josh Lyman will be meeting with...."

"Danny practically kidnapped the President!" Sam suddenly told Donna.

"Really?"

"Yeah, at least to hear him tell it. He braved the wraith of the Secret Service for you." Sam said.

"I braved the wraith of the First Lady! I told her you were the one they were referring to but you wouldn't do that!" Josh didn't want to be outdone.

"No you didn't! You told me she worked it out on her own!" Sam clarified.

"Yeah, but I was there when she did." Josh tried to take the credit.

"It's not the same thing, Josh." Donna burst his bubble.

"But still..."

"I know who _I'd_ rather go up against." Sam backed up his friend.

"That's all I'm saying." Josh agreed, "Plus I threw a punch for you. I put myself in physical danger, risked my physical well being. And I think I broke my hand."

"Mrs. Bartlet said you were fine, Josh." Donna dismissed, ignoring Josh as he waved his hand in front of her face.

"What does she know?" Josh huffed.

"Shhh... I wanna hear the VP's statement!" Donna tried to hush the two men.

"Didn't you okay it already?" Sam looked worriedly from Donna to Josh for conformation. Josh nodded to him as Donna's attention was already fixed on CJ.

"...read a statement from the Vice President. The Vice President wishes to make it clear that at no point has he been approached and offered sex in exchange for his vote, nor has he any knowledge of this occurring. He had no knowledge of the accusations made by his Chief of Staff until they appeared in the USA Today. The comments made were without foundation and made without his consent or approval. His Chief of Staff has resigned and a new Chief of Staff will be announced on Monday. The Vice President wants to express his regrets about any insinuation..."

Donna turned to the two men with her, a sad smile on her face. Josh put his hand on the small of her back and guided her back to his office. Sam watched them leave, marvelling at how quickly things returned to normal between them as he heard Josh reel off a list of things for Donna to do.

"Leo's asked me to meet with MacKenna again and I think we should bring Triplehorn in. I need you to arrange some time on Tuesday for...."

***

_Oval Office/Outer Oval Office_

_7 pm_

"John, come on in."

John Hoynes walked into the Oval Office, slightly apprehensive. He'd returned only hours ago to find a copy of yesterday's _USA Today_ on his desk and a rather terse hand written message from the President telling him to 'take care of it'. He'd issued a statement and fired his Chief of Staff yet he'd still been summoned to the Oval Office.

"Mr. President."

"How was Vancouver?"

"Good."

"Good, good," the President said, slightly distracted as he poured his visitor a cup of coffee, "And your meeting with Cryer went well I assume?"

"Yes, sir." Hoynes accepted the offered cup.

"Good, I'm sorry I had to ask you to call in that favour. Especially over such a small amount."

"The program's worth it, sir"

"Still...It's another bridge burnt."

"If anything sir, I'm just sorry we couldn't take the scheme nationwide." Hoynes began to wonder if he had read too much into the message to see the President. The President just seemed to want to thank him and catch up.

"We didn't have a chance of getting the nationwide scheme through Congress. We had a big enough fight over this." The President watched his VP begin to relax.

"It passed easily enough in the end, although I hear Josh's new approach may have had something to do with that." Hoynes hadn't believed Josh had actually hit a congressman until he'd seen Lewis on C-SPAN during the vote.

"Yes. Also, it's the only thing I can attribute Hark, Wilkinson and O'Shain's changes of heart to. We'd had them laminated under undecided."

John chuckled, "Still it was a risky strategy..."

"It wasn't a strategy, Josh lost his temper."

"Leo must have had a fit...."

"Yeah, he was pretty mad there, for a while." The President sounded amused.

"Any idea why Josh...?"

"My wife informs me that Lewis made some comment about Donna."

The comment was made perfectly innocently, causing Hoynes to again question if he was looking for subtext where none existed.

There was an uncomfortable pause in the conversation as Hoynes tried to work out what was going on and think of an appropriate response, "Is Leo going to....?"

The Vice President struggled to phrase his question about the possible repercussions for Josh. Fortunately the President knew what he was getting at.

"Publicly, maybe. Privately I think he shook Josh's hand. Donna's very popular round here, you know. You don't mess with her, as Lewis learnt." The President took a sip of his coffee before continuing, "Although I doubt Lewis knew it was Donna he was referring to."

The President's voice held an edge that Hoynes couldn't fail to notice. Perhaps he'd been right to be concerned about this meeting.

"The press will have a field day if it gets out." Hoynes temporised, still trying to work out the purpose of this visit. The President stood, obviously intending to show him out, Hoynes followed him toward the door.

"CJ's handling it. She's exceptionally capable at taking the press' temperature. She doesn't think it will be an issue. I trust her," Bartlet said as Hoynes reached for the door handle, "perhaps you should too."

"Mr. President?" John turned back into the room.

"I don't know what's been going on in your office, John, but CJ assures me she told you to leave it with her and if you had, all of this could have been avoided!"

Bartlet's voice rose as he thought of Donna's expression while she had provided him with the few details Danny had been missing. Jed suspected she had left some things out but had been unwilling to delve into a subject that Donna was obviously uncomfortable with and found upsetting.

"I'm happy to take your word for it that this was down to a member of your staff and you had nothing to do with it. But if I ever find out otherwise or if anything like this happens again I'm not going to be able to support you!"

"I understand, Mr. President."

Jed stood in the doorway watching Hoynes leave.

Charlie had, to all appearances, politely ignored the smackdown. In reality he was taking mental notes, aware he was the only one in ear shot and that senior staff would want the gossip for both personal and professional reasons.

"Charlie, what's next?"

Charlie looked round at the President's voice. The President, in turn, looked to see what had occupied the young man's attention. CJ's briefing was showing on the screen.

"She got some questions about the VP's statement. Not as many as I expected, though." Charlie brought the President up to speed.

"Any about the SLP?"

"A couple, one about Josh and Lewis."

"Only one?"

"So far."

"Yeah, that's going to take some explaining...."

They stopped talking to listen to the next question.

"CJ, you announced earlier today that US diplomats have to pay the London congestion charge and just now about the UK extradition treaty, are these issues being raised now as an apology for the joke the President made last week?" Mark inquired.

CJ's groan was clearly picked up by the microphones in the room and transmitted to the outer office where it was echoed by the President and his aide.

***

!-- page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --

_Operations Bullpen_

_7.05 pm_

Donna stared at her desk in horror. She had only been gone two days yet the build up of paperwork was enough to make her wonder if she'd somehow been gone two weeks instead. She gingerly moved some folders, glancing at the ones below.

It was worse than she suspected.

There was no order to the mess and her previous system had been destroyed by the the whirlwind that was Josh. Bonnie appeared next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder in silent empathy over the mess.

"How can one man make so much mess in such a short time?" Donna asked her friend in disbelief.

"He had help." Bonnie replied as she began moving folders from the chair to the desk. She noticed Donna's slightly puzzled expression, "Danny."

"I only asked him to make sure Josh got the folder for his lunch meeting yesterday...."

"He spent most of today staffing Josh."

Donna closed her eyes, overwhelmed at the lengths her friends had gone to in order to cover for her and clear her name. And not just her friends and colleagues, but several reporters that she was friendly with. Reporters renowned for their ruthless pursuit of stories and in-depth understanding of politics had been persuaded to drop a potentially huge story, mostly as a favour for her.

If they knew the whole story, they would run with it regardless but between the VP's statement and CJ's careful handling of the situation Donna was confident they had seen the end of the matter. She certainly had no intention of telling anyone what had _actually_ occurred in Hoynes' office that night. No, she was happy to let everyone think the story had been entirely fabricated by Hoynes' Chief of Staff.

Even the President had been under that impression when he met with her and she had been silently praying that he didn't ask her outright about what had occurred that evening. They had hedged around the subject and Donna had dodged answering in a way that, in other circumstances, would have made Josh proud. The President couldn't _not_ have realised he was only being given politically correct answers to his questions but had, thankfully, dropped the subject anyway.

Donna hadn't been comfortable with the idea of lying to the President but it seemed the preferable option to telling him the truth. The truth would have resulted in the political fallout she had been trying so hard to avoid all week. The President was too good a man to let Hoynes' behaviour go unmentioned. Josh's reaction was too hard to predict but she was sure it would have been newsworthy.

Her only regret was that someone had to loose their job. Especially if he'd only been following his boss' orders in leaking the story. Donna was still unclear who was behind the story and doubted she would ever find out even if she wanted to.

The sad truth was the entire situation could have been avoided so easily. Her friends had gone to all this trouble for nothing. The damage to the administration had been done.

Bonnie looked up from the filing cabinet where she was replacing some files, to see tears welling in Donna's eyes. She stopped filing and guided her friend into the now empty chair.

"What's wrong?" Carol inquired gently.

Donna shook her head too emotional to speak. She let herself be enveloped in Carol's hug but fought back her tears.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to...."

"Hey, it's okay. It's been a rough couple of days for you. And topped off with a meeting in the Oval." Carol shook her head, "I'm surprised you haven't had a nervous breakdown."

Donna smiled slightly.

"Bonnie?" Ginger's voice cut off any response Donna may have wanted to make. She stopped as Donna's desk came into view, "My God! What happened here?"

"Josh and Danny." Donna told her laughingly, as she wiped the last traces of tears from her eyes.

The three woman looked at the mammoth task and heaved a collective sigh before beginning to restore order to Donna's workspace in a companionable silence.

They each grinned as they heard CJ groan as her briefing played on the TV overhead.

***

_Press Briefing Room_

_7.10 pm_

"No, Mark. The fact these issues are being examined now has nothing to do with the joke. They are important to the British and we have agreed to examine them as part of our ongoing special relationship with the UK. A relationship that is built on a shared language, shared culture, shared history and shared goals. The joke on the other hand was proof that many of us here in America do not share a sense of humour with the British, or indeed with the President at times."

A ripple of laughter went through the press corps as CJ mentioned the President's occasionally offbeat sense of humour.

"Thank you, folks. That's a full lid."

***

**AN:** I hope you have enjoyed this, if so, may I recommend Meganfitz's 'Beyond the sea'. It's the completely AU run in between Donna and Hoynes that inspired me to write an encounter that was closer to canon.


End file.
